


The Hanged Man

by taxidermy



Category: Lupin III
Genre: Gen, Heist, M/M, Secondary Characters, Warnings in the notes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 01:13:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15183482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taxidermy/pseuds/taxidermy
Summary: Jigen's old friend hires him and the others for a job under very interesting circumstances. It involves making rounds through the boisterous nightlife of Manhattan and revisiting his past. For Jigen, it's a whole lot more loaded than it seems.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> possible warning in this chapter for recounting of past trauma/abuse. definite warning for mentions of death/murder

Three’s company. Going on the subway with two other people, especially when one of them had never been on a subway before today, was a hell of an adventure. Goemon almost fell over himself when it came to the first stop. What, did he really think he could just stand there without holding onto anything? Thankfully, an empty seat next to Lupin had cleared just then, so he’d quickly made himself at home there.

It was a short ride, for him, anyways, but they’d eventually gotten to their stop. Lupin was still moody about not being able to drive his new yellow _Topolino_ to their destination.

“Why are you so obsessed with Fiats, anyways?”

“I’m not obsessed.” He pouted. “They’re good cars.”

“So’s the Lincoln Continental, but you won’t get us one of those.”

“Bah, it’s too long. It’s for politicians. Not good for travelling and roughhousing and all the stuff we do.”

“At least it doesn’t look like it’s owned by a teenage girl.”

“Hey, It’s not a Beetle!”

Jigen led the two to their destination. Lupin walked side by side with him. Goemon trotted along behind them, keeping up the best he could. The sidewalk was only big enough for two, the poor guy. Jigen tried to make as much room for him as he could, but Lupin almost fell into the sidewalk. He decided to put his hands in his back pockets and walk closer to Jigen.

“How’d you meet this friend of yours, anyways?”

Did he not tell them? “She hired me as a bodyguard for several years. Probably the longest bodyguard job I had. Rented me out a couple of times, but I always came back to her.”

Lupin folded his arms. “Is it just like that with every woman you worked for?”

“Only the nice ones. I’d only ever been hired out to protect women. God knows why. But she hired me for her and her family herself.”  He put his hands in his pockets himself, reminiscing.

“Must’ve done a good job if she’s asking us to come do a job for her.”

“Guess so.”

Goemon craned his head. “What was her name again?”

“Donatella Caprese.”

Donatella Caprese, a first-generation child of a Neapolitan crime family who made a name for herself in New York City. First female Dona of the Caprese family, which spanned back almost two centuries.

She wasn’t the first female _Donna_ in general, nor was she the last, but she was certainly one of the few. And god damn was she good at her job. Good enough to have moved into a mega-apartment on Carnegie Hill with her husband and kids.

Her husband.

He wondered how she still didn’t hate him for it. She was so nice to him on the phone. And she was always brutally honest at that. She’d had so many opportunities to tell him that she hated him or to rescind all communication. But she invited him and his ‘new friends’ over for a job with a great deal of money involved.

Once a friend, always a friend? Lupin did stupid shit all the time and he still considered him a friend. But nothing to the extent of...

Lupin humphed. “Ah. _Donna_ Dona.”

“She’s heard that one before.”

“But has she heard it from me?”

Lupin began singing to himself. “ _Donna Donna Do-na Do-oh-nah...Donna Donna Do-na-ah Don…_ ”

It was moments like these where Lupin’s singing voice sounded all the more grating than it usually was.

“The one thing she won’t hear from you,” Goemon mused, “is the end of it.”

It was a few more blocks before he reached her building. Same as always. Grey stone, huge windows, intricate...building-carvings. Probably built sometime in the past century. They stood at the doorway to catch their breath.

Goemon, now finally at the same street level at his friends, craned his head all the way up. “This is one of the fancier ones, I take it.”

Jigen patted his back. “You stay put, your neck’ll get stuck like that. Come on.”

The doorman held open the door into the lobby, an all-marble affair with some palm plants and an empty reception desk. The elevator button was pressed and it took much longer than usual for it to come. The building still hadn’t switched over to electric elevators from manual ones, it seemed. Jigen always felt bad for the poor saps who had to operate those. They didn’t even have seats.

The entrance to her house was on the fifteenth floor at the end of the hall. Several doors lined the halls, although in these types of buildings, they were often into the same house. Walking back in was like coming to a world he’d long abandoned. A strange slur of nostalgia and pain filled his gut. But he was safer here than he would be anywhere else.

The three of them finally reached the door. Jigen rung the doorbell. It was a few minutes before the ring was answered.

Dona.

“Jigen!”

He leaned over to her as she placed a manicured talon on his back. The two of them exchanged European cheek kisses.

“Come in! You’re a bit early, so I’m not ready yet, but you _are_ family. Come in!”

Boisterous as always. He couldn’t help but return her smile. She gently pushed him inside with the same hand, Lupin and Goemon and eventually Dona following along. She gave off the musk of that putrid designer perfume that women of her caliber adored. Practically a uniform; from hair, to designer shoes, to smell. It was always nice to see ‘family’ when he could.

The penthouse looked more or less the same as the last time he’d been there. It was about a century old, and a work of art at that - what need was there to change it? It was a far cry from the homes of the well-to-do across the city, covered head to toe in pink and white marble and gold trim. The setup of eclectic antique furniture was more or less the same, barring a new grandfather clock and other assorted, expensive-looking schmonzes.

On the intricately carved coffee table in the living room sat a particular porcelain ashtray that he’d gotten her for her birthday one year. It wasn’t expensive, and it may or may not have actually been antique, but she still kept the thing. The sentiment begot him a slight smirk.

To his delight, not much about her had changed either. Same French manicure, same coiffed and dyed whitish blonde hair, same great-grandmother’s heirloom pendant hanging on her neck. The dress was new, although she always wore tight dresses and loved to go shopping. And she may have gotten a boob job, though he’d have to ask while the other two weren’t around. She always was complaining about how her tits were getting saggy.

He could’ve sworn that he’d even caught Goemon eyeing her back when they were at the door. Was she _really_ that attractive?

For that matter, had he himself changed at all?

“You came so suddenly, I didn’t have any time to prepare anything for youse!” She made a small circle in her living room and turned to face Jigen. “Tell me. Are you a brie or camembert kinda person?”

“You know I like brie, Dona. Camembert is too bitter.”

“Sophisticated. It’s a sophisticated cheese, _bambino_.”

“Jigen doesn’t have much of a taste for anything that doesn’t have grease dripping out of it. But I bet you knew that already.”

Lupin stepped out in front of him, holding out his hand.

“I’m Lupin, by the way. And over there is Goemon.”

Yeah, she’d definitely gotten a boob job.

Dona giggled, covering her mouth with one hand and shaking Lupin’s with the other.

“Oh, I already know about youse, don’t worry. You’re pretty famous.”

“So I’ve heard.”

She clasped her hands, leaning forward. “Well, we all have a lot to catch up on. I gotta grab the snacks beforehand, though. Don’t wanna leave you hungry. I’ll be back in a bit. Have a seat!”

She took small, quick steps to the kitchen, her heels clicking across the door. Jigen helped himself to the pink tufted loveseat, and Lupin to the matching armchair. Goemon took his time examining Dona’s eclectic living room.

“Hey, Goemon, come sit down.” Lupin turned his head to his direction. “What’s so interesting over there?”

He took his time to respond, eventually turning in Jigen’s direction. He was carefully holding a picture frame of Dona and her kids.

“Miss Caprese is...very well off, Jigen.”

“Yeah. I told you, she’s a _Donna_. Her family’s in Italy, Colombia, and all over the states, too.”

“Hmm.” He placed the frame back to where it was, proceeding to prop himself on the open cushion on the loveseat. “I didn’t know that you were friends with such people.”

“That’s how you make a living in that line of work. You make connections.” He dug his hand into his pocket, fishing for his box of cigarettes. “Dona was just one of the nice ones.”

“Still, she’s very well off. You could’ve become like her.”

Jigen pulled out his box of cigarettes after some struggle that resulted in his briefs riding up his butt awkwardly. He placed one in his mouth and handed another to Lupin.

“I wasn’t in the family, I was just a bodyguard. Can’t be a _Don_ if you’re not Italian, anyhow. Besides, I hate bureaucracy.”

“And that’s the difference between organized and, well…’un-organized’ crime.” Lupin accepted the cigarette and fished for his lighter. “We all hate bureaucracy.”

Goemon perked his eyebrows. “Would you have hated it any less if your last name wasn’t Lupin?”

“Hey, you’re the descendant of a famous thief, too!” Lupin fidgeted with the lighter,  shaking it, but it didn’t budge. “The fact that he was a samurai doesn’t change that. Don’t act so high and mighty!”

“Miss Caprese owns a carved pink ivory and gold leaf _coffee table_.”

“It’s bocote, actually. Just got it painted is all.” And there Dona was again, briskly clacking to the armchair opposite Lupin’s. She was followed by a stout man in a tuxedo who looked older than the four of them combined - probably some fresh off the boat Sicilian - who placed a tray of salamis and cheeses and a bottle of wine in front of them.

“Sorry I took so long. I got a call I had to answer. Guido’ll be here with the glasses in a bit…”

She nodded and smiled in the man’s direction and he stepped back into the kitchen. She then scanned the room.

“Wasn’t there supposed to be a fourth one of youse? The lady?”

“Oh, Fujiko?” Lupin perked up at the mention of her, still fidgeting with his lighter. “She was exhausted when we met her here, the poor thing. Needed a day off. I’m filling her in later.”

Didn’t even have the piece of mind to come here with them because she wanted to go to Saks, more like it. She’d just get filled in, con them out of the money, and go out and buy herself more crap. At least Lupin was being honest with Dona that he just wanted to get his dick wet. And at least Jigen was there to control him.

Noticing Lupin’s struggle, Donatella fished out her own lighter from her pocketbook and lit Lupin’s and Jigen’s cigarettes.

“Huh! Lucky. I wish someone’d give me a day off.”

Guido returned with four glasses. Dona nodded in thanks, which saw him out of the room. She then proceeded to pour a gratuitous amount of sherry into each. Eventually, everyone managed to find their way to the cheese and salami tray at their own pace. Goemon seemed a bit more enthusiastic about the offerings than the rest of them.

“So, I’ll get right to business.” Donatella fumbled with her pocketbook, eventually fishing out and unrolling a fragile piece of paper. “The Zabagliones are...family rivals of mine. They own several businesses throughout the city, but the money’s being held in three buildings on the mid and lower west side. I haven’t been able to get word on specifically which ones they may be, but I circled the ones that are the most likely based on what my _capos_ were able to find out.”

Jigen looked the map over. He was pretty familiar with the mid and lower west side. Around forty-five or so buildings were circled. He meticulously matched addresses to businesses and apartment buildings in his head. It took him a minute to realize that a good amount of the buildings were bars, clubs, or other such places. It was typical for families to operate such things. He even used to frequent some of them himself. And at that…

Oh god.

“The buildings were built some seventy or so years ago. Six of them have underground passages connecting one another, and three of those six have the safes with the money in them. Once you found one, you found ‘em all. Though you’ll have to go to the basement to check.”

Lupin rolled the map and placed it next to him on the chair. “So, that’s it? We just find the passages, take the money, and we’re done?”

“Oh, of course not! I’d never give youse something that easy.” She grinned and clasped her hands together. “Rumor has it that Mr. Zabaglione keeps a god amount of the product he’s planning to sell in one of those three safes.” She leaned in closer. “Of course, Mr. Zabaglione ain’t no idiot. The passages are heavily guarded and rigged with booby traps. It won’t be no walk in the park. Now, I could use me some secret passages. If you find the building with the product in it, call the police and get them to evacuate the buildings. But make sure you get all the money before that, or the police’ll confiscate it. And you can’t let the police see you, or they’ll link you to me and I won’t be able to bribe my way in.”

She reached over for her pocketbook.

“If you manage to do all that, I’ll give ‘ya an added bonus…”

She came back up with something in her hand and placed it on the table so the three could see it. A picture of an intricate table organ clock that was taller than any he’d seen before. It was overlaid with what he assumed to be tortoiseshell - he couldn’t exactly tell as the picture was black and white - and decorated with ormolu and some sort of precious stone. A real fine piece of work.

“It’s an Ottoman Turkish Market from the 18th century,” she explained. “Made in Constantinople, given to Mehmed VI on the day of his coronation. Bought it off a collector friend in Beirut. But my living’s rooms crowded enough as it is. And it just so happens that I really, really need those underground passages. So if you everything I said, I’ll trade ‘ya this, and you’ll still get the original cut of the money.”

Lupin seemed to be the most impressed. He held the picture up close to his face with wide eyes and mouth slightly agape. “You...you’re seriously trading this for those passages.”

“What can I say? I’m a practical woman.”

“There has to be some other catch.”

“There’s no catch, Lew-pin-”

“Lup _-ahn_.”

“Ah, right. Lew _-pawn_.” She fiddled with her pocketbook yet again and pulled out a sizeable cuban cigar - her nicotine of choice - and held it between her teeth. “Well, you’re right, it is a beaut, and an expensive one at that. I wouldn’t go about those conditions with anyone I didn’t trust, world-famous or not. But friends of Jigen’s are friends of mine.”

The two of them exchanged smiles. She didn’t usually let go of her stuff unless she was very sure of it. She’d given him so much as it was. And what had he done for her? It was an honor, nonetheless.  

Even in the...interesting circumstances of this situation.

She lit her cigar, took a puff, and held it between her fingers. “So, you’ll follow through?” She held out her hand.

“With enthusiasm, Donatella.” Lupin grabbed and shook it almost too firmly. God, if he wanted to sleep with her, he could just say so.

He sat back down into his seat, crossing his legs and putting his hands over them primly.

Despite the good progress, there was still something itching him. Jigen couldn’t hold onto it for too long. He’d have to go about this carefully and deliberately.

“Just some questions, first,” Jigen started. He needed to get to the bottom of this.

“Sure, ask away.”

“Well...do you have any specifics on the security?”

That was a normal question to ask, right?

“Hmm. Well, you know _soldiers_ like to keep submachine guns on ‘em, but nothin’ really so clear on that front. I hear the passages are lined with steel. May be lasers in there, too. Like in a museum. Alarms seem possible.”

“Nothing we can’t handle,” Lupin remarked.

“I’m sure, I’m sure, Lew-payan.”

“Lu- _pahn_.”

“Right.”

God, how could he put this.

“And...these buildings. Exactly how far apart are they?”

She laughed. “Don’t act like you don’t know! It’s nothin’ you ain’t familiar with. It’ll be like in the old days, hoppin’ from-”

“I just think we should split up. Four ways.” Fuck it. He drummed his fingers on the table. Goemon gave him those puppy eyes he always made when he was concerned. Lupin furrowed his brows.

“Jigen, you’re antsy. Something up?”

“Well-just-we...we should just go separately four ways. We can have radios or something to keep in contact.” His breath hitched. “It’d be better, right? We’d find the passage more quickly.”

He had a point. He didn’t know what Lupin was thinking, but it was the most beneficial way to execute the plan overall. The four of them could handle themselves in combat and they’d find the passages more easily. Plus, they wouldn’t confront him about the nature of the locations and his familiarity with them.

But Lupin just grinned. Just bore his fucking teeth at him, squinting against his cheeks. He knew him well. Almost too well for his own good.

“But, what if Fujiko runs off with the money? She can say anything she wants into a walky-talky, you know.”

“If you’re so worried about her, just drop her already. It’s about time.”

He shrugged. “Too late! But it could happen.”

The bastard.

Lupin leaned over in his armchair. “And what if I do something stupid? What if Goemon gets hurt? What if _you_ get hurt? And those mafia are crafty as hell, what if-”

“Alright, fine.” Jigen grunted deep in his throat. “I don’t know how we’d benefit by going from building to building together. It’d take hours. But whatever you think is best. You’re the master thief, after all.”

“Huh. If you know how far apart the buildings are, why’d you ask Donatella about it?”

“None of your goddamn business why I asked Donatella about it.”

Lupin sat back up straight with both arms on the armrests. “Such friends I have...calling me a ‘master thief’ one minute and berating me the next.”

“Jigen.” Goemon crossed his arms and gazed at him firmly. “What exactly are those buildings?”

“Does it matter? Just clubs an’ bars an’ illegitimate divorce lawyers an’ Italian restaurants an’ stuff.” If he couldn’t convince them, he could at least act like he didn’t care.

“Families own large stretches of business throughout Manhattan,” Dona added. “Lots of ‘em are illegal or taboo in some way. I actually just opened a bar in Hell’s Kitchen for people who like to wear leather masks and act like dogs.”

Goemon looked down, mouth slightly agape.

“...Yeah, I don’t get it either. But it makes money, and that’s what matters.”

Thank God for Donatella, making sure this didn’t go any further than it had to. Hopefully the two of them would forget about this in a few hours. They’d just go, do everything asked, and Jigen would act totally cool about it. It’d be fine. There’d be nothing wrong. Lupin just liked fucking with him sometimes. Right? This was fine. It was for Dona, after all.

“Well, if youse don’t got any more questions, I’d like to ask if I could steal Jigen away from you for a bit.” She took another drag of her cigar. “We haven’t met face to face in so long, y’see. And I only got so much time before my kids come back.”

The two of them gave him looks and he responded with reassuring nods. It would be nice to talk to her for a bit. He needed a bit of a break.

“Guess we’d better get going then. C’mon, Goemon.” Lupin grabbed the map and Goemon followed along. “Lovely to meet you, Donatella.”

“And lovely to meet the two of youse, too.” She gave them a wink. “I’ll see ‘ya when you’re done. Best of luck.”

Everyone said their goodbyes, Dona led them to the door, and they were gone. It’s the first time he hadn’t been with at least one of them for a while now.

They’d just go back to the hideout or to meet Fujiko or to do something or to plan and forget all about it. They’d do the mission and get the money and the clock and go about their lives as usual.

Nothing weird happened.

It’s fine.

He was fine.

Right?

Dona made her way back to the table, grabbed her wine glass, and sat were Lupin was moments ago. He noticed that he was still drumming his fingers and abruptly put his hands at his sides.

“So,” she started as she leaned towards him, “which one of ‘em are you fuckin’?” She beared an ugly, self-satisfactory grin. “It’s the purple one, isn’t it? The one who was sittin’ next to you? Good eye. He’s a cutie.” She leaned back into her chair and swirled the wine in her glass. “You always liked ‘em skinny and...hairless. Like mole rats. Or is it Lew-pahn? Lew-pin? Or whatever? You two seem to get on well. Rugged, big sideburns. Like those cowboys in those movies you like. A comedian, too. Reminds me of Alain Delon. But hairier.”

Jigen gritted his teeth. It’s been a while since he’d talked to anyone that way. Confiding in Dona about who, how, and when he fucked seemed lifetimes away from himself. Dona was still his friend, but he was changed. He wanted to put her in her place, but couldn’t force himself to be anything but polite. More polite than he would’ve been to anyone else, at least. A weakness of his.

“How cordial of you, Dona.”

“Aw, come on. You’re no fun anymore. You start gettin’ paid by famous people and suddenly you’re all business.” She placed a hand on his arm. “What happened to the Jigen I used to know?”  
“He died a long time ago. You’d know that better than anyone else.”

“Right, right...it’s just I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“We’ve called.”

“That’s different!”

Right. Dona was still his friend. And a friend who’s been having a rough time lately at that.

“I...guess you’re right. How’ve you been doing?”

“I’ve been doing well. Luciano’s mom is over to visit. She’s probably taking Valentina over to her ballet class right now…” She hunched over and gave out a heavy sigh.

“We don’t have to talk about it.”

Luciano was a good man. Dona’s father had been against her marrying her long-time boyfriend as he was Colombian rather than the preferred Italian. But Dona went through with it anyways. He was kind, business-oriented, polite, if not soft-spoken. A bit shy at that. And he just so happened to come from a powerful business family in Bogotá that collaborated with the Capreses and expanded their horizons and fortunes.

Most importantly, Dona loved him dearly. So he did, too.

And because of him, he died.

_It’s my fault, anyways._

“No, no, it’s fine. My therapist said it’s good for me to talk.” She looked out the window. “Nothing much other than that. Business as usual. Just figuring out the last bits of Luciano’s will, gotta get a new lawyer for one of my _capos_ after we had to take care of him. Domenico’s been begging me to get a dog.”

Maybe they should change the subject.

“He can talk in full sentences? How old is he now?”

“Turned four two months ago.”

“And Valentina?”

“All of eight.”

“God, we’re old.” Jigen sighed.

“What, your biological clock is tickin’?”

“If it is, I’m sending it back to the store.”

They shared a laugh at that, and settled back into their seats, blowing smoke out of their mouths. Dona still seemed uneasy. She talked a lot when she was. The laughs seemed disingenuous. They were both good at putting on masks. He wouldn’t say anything else.

What was there to say?

He wouldn’t, but she did. She turned to him with her eyes cast down.

“I...I didn’t say much about it on the phone, but I also had to take care of some...business. With…”

He knew where this was going.

“Cicciolina’s estate.”

She hesitated and shifted her eyes away from his face. “Yeah.”

Donatella was good friends with the family. Was. She’d hired him out as Cicciolina’s bodyguard as a sort of thank-you for his loyalty to her for all those years. It was a high-paying job that would land him travelling from luxurious site to luxurious site.

And then, because of him, it all went awry. He’d escaped his former life and went off the radar.

And then, because of him, they killed her husband, the father of two young children, in retaliation.

“Her first husband’s younger brother - the one she’d planned to marry after she killed her husband - he’s been hassling me since you left Macau. Not often they have that sort of drama around there. They want me to pay ‘em back what they paid you, plus _interest_. I’m just tryin’ to get them off my ass.”

‘Hassling’ was too light of a word. She was ever the businesswoman, for better or worse.

“Seriously? Even though they…”

“...You can’t take no for an answer in this line of work, I guess.”

She and Lupin were the only ones who knew the truth, and the only ones who needed to at that. It was unnecessary to tell anyone else - it would only make things hell of a lot worse. The world was better off thinking that it was some sort of tragic love affair gone more awry than it already had been. There was no need to sully her name. No one would believe him, anyways. This brooding romantic just wanted to move the fuck on with his life.

“I-I’m sorry. If I hadn’t transferred you over there, none of this would’ve happened.”

And now, while he was moving on, she was the one bearing the brunt his mistakes.

“You didn’t know.”

“God, but I should’ve.” Donatella hunched over with her head in her hands.

“There wasn’t anything to know beforehand. She was just lonely.”

She got back up, holding in her breath, gesticulating wildly with her hands as she spoke. “She wasn’t ‘just lonely’. No one who acts like that is ever ‘just lonely’. You’re lonely, you call a friend. You’re horny, you buy a dildo. You’re emotionally repressed, you talk it out. You don’t...fuckin’...”

She leaned over again, arms resting on her legs, eyes at her feet.

“I remember your calls. That woman was forcing herself on you.”

He didn’t want to do it, but that wouldn’t be the word he would use. He didn’t know what word to use. “No one was forcing anyone. I made my own decisions. I’m a grown man”

“That-that doesn’t change nothin’. She still…you...” She let out her breath, giving up.

He laid his hand on her back. “What happened, happened. You have too much on your plate to deal with this shit.”

But it didn’t help. Nothing could say would help. When Dona believed something, she was stubborn until the end, no matter what. She was silent now, arms at her lap. God, she had too much shit going on in her life to care about his.

This was his fault, anyways.

He scooched over closer to her.

“Look. I know you can afford it, but I’ll pay them off with my cut of Zabaglione’s money. I’ll say it’s from me and they’ll get off your ass for good.”

She turned back to him, holding both hands on his arm. “You shouldn’t. I can throw them off, then I won’t have to deal with them. They just want extra money for no reason. They wanna humiliate me. Or you. Or someone. It’s ridiculous.”

“I don’t have two kids, a family to head, and bills to pay. It’s the least I can do.”

“They’ll try to kill you if they know where you are.”

“I’ll kill them first.”

“Jigen-”

“Let. Me.”

She grew quiet again. Contemplating. Wondering to herself if it was a good idea. She didn’t have to take responsibility for everything. She was a good _Donna_ , but maybe too good at that. She’d done so much for him, after all. She could use a favor.

She faced him again with a shy and sincere smile.

“I know you hate it when I say this, but you’re sweet.” She pinched his cheek. “Too sweet for your own good.”

His pinched cheek pinched. “A ‘thank you’ would’ve been enough.”

She gently set her glass on the table and pulled her friend into a hug. He hesitated at first, but then found it in himself to put his arms around her.

“Thank you, Jigen.”  

From there, he was able to lift her spirits a bit more, as a spirit was lifted off of his shoulders. They spent what seemed like days talking and catching up. They could talk about about everything and nothing. Being around other people for a while was refreshing. Not that he didn’t like Lupin, Goemon, and Fujiko, even if they had their moments. Life as a bodyguard was tough, sure, but Dona, like his current gang, was a friend for life. No matter what.

The quarter past the hour came and went. Dona checked her watch and announced that her kids would be arriving soon. She had to parent, it would be best for him to go. It was nice to see him, finally. She led him to the door.

“You never answered me.” She leaned on the open door with a hand on her hip. “Which one of ‘em are you fuckin’?”

He didn’t want to give a straightforward answer. “Dona...”

“Whoever it is, I hope youse enjoy yourselves at the White Rabbit, all of you. Although Lew-pawn seems like the type who can enjoy himself just about anywhere.”

And then, it all came crashing down on him.

“You bitch. You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“How was I supposed to know you became such a shrew? Thought you’d have fun goin’ back there. Fuckin’ your colleagues or not. Just my luck that the tunnels may be in one of ‘em.”

“I didn’t even give you an answer.”

“But you have that look on your face.” Dona’s lip curled in a not-so-humble smirk. “You can hide, but you can’t hide from me, _bambino._ ”

That much was true. She knew him well. Almost too well for his own good.

“Well...the kids and their grandma should be gettin’ back any minute now. I gotta go meet them. I’ll go downstairs with you, then we can say goodbye.”

Jigen started out the doorway. “For now.”

Dona followed him, her short legs quickly clacking to catch up. “Yeah...for now.”

She locked the front door and the two of them made their way to the elevator. It was nice to see ‘family’ when he could.

 

\----

 

_“How many men have you forgotten?”_

_Johnny gazed into the distance forlornly. Vienna collected herself from the window from where she was peering at him and made her way into the room._

_“As many women as you’ve remembered,” she replied, justifiably without feeling. Before she could move a muscle, Johnny sprung up from his chair to face her._

_“Don’t go away.”_

_“I haven’t moved.” Her gaze was icy, echoing the sentiments in her heart._

_Johnny, desperate as he was, pushed on. “Tell me somethin’ nice.”_

_“Sure. What d’you want to hear?”_

_“Lie to me. Tell me all these years you’ve waited. Tell me.”_

_Vienna looked up at him without moving her head, speaking through clenched teeth. “All these years I’ve waited.”_

_“Tell me you’d have died if I hadn’t come back.”_

_“I would have died if you hadn’t come back.”_

_“Tell me you still love me like I love you.”_

_“I still love you like you love me.”_

_Sensing the bitterness of her words, Johnny picked up his glass and sipped from it. “Thanks. Thanks a lot.”_

And then, Vienna would snatch the glass from his hand and throw it into the wall behind her. Jigen kept his eyes firmly glued to the screen.

Goemon and Lupin could make fun of him all they wanted. _Johnny Guitar_ was a good fucking movie. He’d damn near cried when he’d first seen it in theatres. The fact that it’d started showing on TV right when he’d started eating dinner was lucky. He needed to not think for a bit anyways.

He stretched his legs out on the couch while resting his head in his arms. His jacket, tie, and hat were folded at his feet. He’d pick them up later. Goemon sat close by, polishing his sword. A pizza they’d ordered at Jigen’s insistence waited quarter-eaten on the living room table. Half pepperoni for Lupin and Goemon, half pineapple and ham for Fujiko and himself. An average free night before a work day.

But Lupin always had something to do on those nights. He was more or less the mastermind, anyways. There was always one final touch he had to perfect or one detail he had to get into place. Today, he was wandering around the hideout with his attention fully focused on some book. He momentarily stopped in his tracks and rested his arms on the top of the couch.

“Jigen. You’re a Gemini, right?”

“I’m a what?”

“Yeah, you’re a Gemini. Hmm…”

Lupin thumbed through his book, his eye on the bottom right corner, watching the page numbers.

“Ah, Gemini! ‘ _Quick like the wind, Geminis take on after their ruling Mercury. The childlike twins bring about a need in the native to satisfy their curiosity in the world by exploring it. They go about their lives as students with an unquenchable thirst for information and need to learn from others. Even if the native is not extroverted, they often feel the need to process outside of themselves. They are humorous and quick of wit, able and willing to get their point across. But this does not make them hardened intellectuals - the twins are still children, after all, and as such the native is also an affectionate and gentle soul.’_ I don’t know if I’d describe you as an ‘affectionate and gentle soul’. Damn, they didn’t have to make the book so poetic. Hmm…”

He flipped forward a few pages and read a bit to himself. “Says here Geminis get along well with Leos. Maybe that’s why we’re such good buddies!”

Jigen sat up. “The hell are you going on about?”

“Horoscopes. Astrology. The placement of stars and planets as aspects relating to one’s personality and livelihood…”

His eyes were drawn to the book in Lupin’s hand. It was a purple paperback titled _Exploring the Stars: A Briefing of Astrology for the Spiritually Curious._ The cover featured a drawing of some sort of naked fairy woman being very protective of a circle with weird symbols inside of it.

“You don’t actually believe in that bullshit, do you?”

“It’s not about believing, it’s about exploration! It’s about opening your mind to new ways of explaining existence.” He waved his arms around as if he were a child pretending to be an astronaut. “That sort of exploration is what the kids are into these days. Astrology, tarot, mysticism, wearing baggy clothes, having long hair.”

“Huh.” Jigen maneuvered himself to face across from him. “Sounds like you, Goemon.”  
Hearing his name, he momentarily placed down his tools. “I have nothing to do with those people.”

“Thought it would be flattering that ‘kids these days’ are following in your example. You’re a trendsetter!”

Goemon rolled his eyes good naturedly. “There are better things to be, Jigen.”

Lupin turned to face him as well. “Goemon, what are you?”

He pondered quietly, pursing his lip in thought. “I’m...an Aries with a Pisces moon.”

Lupin’s eyes widened. “Huh, that’s more specific than I was expecting. You know about astrology, Goemon?”

“A little, from my grandmother. She did my birth chart.”

“Your grandmother did your birth chart,” he repeated, amused. “God, you’re a better hippie than I’ll ever be.”

“Like I said. I have nothing to do with those people.” He crossed his arms, huffing. “Why are you reading that book, anyways?”

“Gotta have something to talk about while I’m in disguise at the bars tomorrow. Kids don’t wanna hear about the history of French architecture or how to properly unlock a safe.”

Jigen gave out an embarrassingly heavy chuckle. “Trust me, Lupin. There’ll be no one at the bars tomorrow who’ll be interested in moons or suns or anything like that.”

“Ah, Jigen...I know it’s been a while for you, but the scene’s changed.” He placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. “‘Course, the leather and motorcycle stuff or whatever it was that you were into is still big. But all the cool kids? The rebellious, anti-establishment ones that’ll help us get into the proper buildings? They’re the hippies! And where there’s any sort of counterculture, they’ll be there.” He turned his head. “Isn’t that right, Goemon?”

Goemon craned his head and raised his brow.

“Alright, alright! Just teasing you.” He turned back to Jigen and ruffled his hair. “But don’t you worry your pretty little head, Jigen. I’ll let you dress however you want.”

“All the more so I won’t have to be associated with _you_.”

On top of having to navigate the bars of the lower west side with his comparatively new friends, he now had to do it while one of them was dressed as a star-worshiping weirdo. He wished he’d held his ground when he suggested they split up four ways, but someone had to make sure that Fujiko didn’t run off with the cash or that Lupin didn’t do something stupid.

He was even more perturbed by how frighteningly close to the truth Lupin was.

“Hey, commercials are over,” Lupin remarked, gesturing to the screen. “I’ll get back to my reading. Can’t let you miss your soaps.”

Jigen grunted, fists clenching in the cushions of the couch. “It ain’t a soap, you goddamn-”

But Lupin was making his way down the hallway with his nose firmly planted in that book before he could finish his sentence. That bastard wouldn’t know good taste if it hit him straight in the balls.

And now Goemon was sneering at him, too.

“Don’t give me that look.”

He shrugged and went back to work.

He’d missed a couple of minutes of the movie, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t watched it before. Sitting now, he settled back into the couch with one arm on the armrest and re-immersed himself in the story.

Or, at least, he tried to before he heard the doorbell. Goemon was closer to the door than him so he was the one who got up to get it.

“Hey! Sorry I couldn’t get the door on my own. My hands are full.”

Goemon held open the door as Fujiko sauntered in, almost waddling with the amount of bags she was holding. She placed them politely near the doorway and handed Goemon a few to place on the kitchen counter. Her hair, which had grown out, had been re-dyed or un-dyed to its possibly natural brown and styled in such a way that reminded Jigen of a self-important Southern socialite. He fixed his attention back to the television.

“You...did a lot today.”

“Very curt of you.” She giggled. “Maybe I did go a bit too overboard...well, what’s done is done. Oh!” There was the sound of a rustling paper bag. “I got you some of that blonde hair dye you wanted. I’ll help you out with it if you need me to.”

“I’m...still thinking about it. Thank you, though.”

Jigen raised his brow. Since when did he want to go blonde? He’d have to talk to him about that.

“How did the meeting go?”

“It went well. It’s one of the more interesting circumstances for a job that we’ve had.”

“There’s always something ‘interesting’ going on with those mafia people. How was Jigen’s friend, then?”

“She’s very...interesting, herself.”

“Like attracts like, I suppose.”

No, he couldn’t hear anything, even though he was sitting right there and they were talking about them while he was still in the room.

“You came back late. How are you doing?”

“I’m alright. And yeah, sorry about that. I needed to go get…”

A resoundingly secretive silence filled the room for a few minutes. What the hell could those two be scheming? Jigen was tempted to butt in, but decided not to, as it’d probably come back around to him eventually. Nothing was secret when you worked and lived with the same three people.

“But yeah, I needed that day to myself. I’m pretty exhausted, though, and hungry to boot.”

“There’s pizza on the living room table if you want any.”

“Oh...oh, thank god. Excuse me, Goemon.”

She made a beeline to the sofa and grabbed a slice of pizza and a napkin before sinking into the couch next to Jigen. They exchanged nods, but it stopped there when Fujiko saw the television screen. At least she didn’t call it a ‘soap’.

“Ah, Fujiko!”

A few minutes late, Lupin darted into the living room.

“Fujiko, what’s your sign?”

“Not tonight, Lupin. I’m exhausted.”

“No, No! I’m serious! What’s your sign?”

Fujiko pursed her brows in confusion, but then saw the book in Lupin’s hands and seemed to collect the context of the question. “Oh. Well, if you must know, I’m an...Aquarius, I think.”

“Aquarius? Aquarius, Aquarius…” Lupin flipped some pages forward. “ _Ruled by Uranus, Aquarius is the quietest and most brash of the Air signs. The native, no matter their personality, is an intellectual and deep thinker who strives to see the world through an objective standpoint. They are true to themselves first and foremost and prefer to consult solitarily and see all possible options before making a decision. But their frankness and independence do not make natives stubborn loners; in fact, they thrive in communities and are progressive humanitarians who see the world as full of possibilities and capable of positive change.’_ This one’s a lot less poetic, huh.”

Fujiko leaned on the armrest while staring off into the distance. “I...guess that does sound like me, doesn’t it.”

“It really does, comparatively. It called Jigen ‘childlike’ and an ‘affectionate and gentle soul’.”

“Seriously? I can’t even imagine him as a child without that beard.”

“Didn’t grow it until I was twenty-five or so,” Jigen finally interjected.

“Jigen, you’re older than twenty-five? With your childlike and gentle soul? I could not believe it.” Lupin held the back of his hand on his forehead as if fainting.

Fujiko snickered at that. Real funny, wasn’t it. Jigen tried to come up with a retort, but a gaping yawn escaped his lips before any words could. You get this one, Lupin.

“Yeah, I think Jigen’s got the right idea.” Fujiko, having finished her slice, got up from the couch and threw her napkin in a nearby waste bin. She rubbed her eyes. “I’m gonna go take a shower, then straight to bed. Long day tomorrow.”

Everyone wished each other their good nights and Fujiko left for the bathroom. Eventually, Lupin had also wandered back into the hallway with his book. Wasn’t he supposed to brief Fujiko? Would she only know about what she had to do tomorrow? It was fishy. He’d confront Lupin about it tomorrow. Or whenever he decided to come back into the room, at least.

About fifteen or so minutes passed and he saw neither hide nor hair of either of them. To her credit, Fujiko really did seem exhausted and the door to her room was closed. It was safe to assume that she’d actually gone to sleep. Maybe Lupin had, too. He wouldn’t keep something from him concerning a job. Right?

Eventually, Goemon got up with Zantetsuken and tools in hand.

“I should shower myself. Jigen, you should shower, too.” He paused sooner than he had to break between words. “A-after I’m finished, of course. Or change clothes, at least.”

“Ah, a little later. Let me rest.”

He sat himself cross-legged where Fujiko was on the couch. It was always nice to see him being more forward.

“How was your conversation with Miss Caprese?”

“It was alright. She called you a ‘cutie’.”

He chuckled. “I’ve gotten worse.”

“Also said you were ‘skinny and hairless, like a mole rat’. But in a good way, I promise.”

There was no need to tell him any more about the conversation than that.

“I’m not hairless.”

“How was she supposed to know?”

“She could’ve asked.”

He said that very matter-of-factly while looking straight at him. Jigen had to fight every urge in every single one of his nerves to not put his head in his hands. The world may have been easier to navigate if everyone were as blunt as him but it sure as hell wouldn’t have been easier to live through.

Goemon seemed to have lost all interest in continuing the conversation he just started, choosing to slouch and peer down at his knees, eyelids aflutter, for several uneasy minutes. They were more than capable of sitting in comfortable silence but his friend’s physical needs seemed to be getting the best of him.

Jigen put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey. What happened to taking a shower? You should sleep, too.”

“O-oh.”

“Wait. One thing.” He remembered a few seconds later than he should have. Goemon slowly sat back down in silence and waited.

Without thinking, Jigen caught a few strands of his hair between his thumb and index finger. He rubbed them between his fingers, lingering on the texture, and slowly let them fall back into place. “Don’t go blonde, alright?”

“I’m still thinking about it.”

“It’s not because of Fujiko, is it?” He shuddered at the possibility of the next possible option. “Or Dona?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then what?”

Goemon grew quiet. He concentrated his attention past Jigen’s shoulder. Contemplating, but with no intention of giving him an answer.

“Sometimes, you can...want things...and like things...without having to worry about how others will receive it.” He spoke rapidly as his face turned slightly pink from having let out his breath so quickly. “For instance, if you were to have...dyed your hair blonde in the past, Lupin and I wouldn’t mind. Being ashamed of...dying your hair blonde doesn’t diminish your pride as a man. It’s your prerogative.”

That had nothing to do with what he’d just asked. Jigen crossed his arms.

“The hell are you talking about, Goemo-”

“We got you something for the...job tomorrow.” His eyes were glassy and resolutely avoiding his.  “It’s in the largest bag on the kitchen counter. But...you’re right. I should go take a shower.” He got up and made his way to the hallway before stopping one last time. “‘Night, Jigen.”

“‘Night…”

Jigen watched him make his way down the hallway until he got to his room. He then laid back down and unbuttoned his shirt.

Today was certainly an interesting day. It seemed that once he had one worry settled another one came running to him with open arms. He would finally settle a debt with an old friend that made him hate himself even more than he already had for so long. And now, his (comparatively) new friends were acting strange around him. Not to mention that Dona had even went out of her way to include all the...places he used to frequent as a younger man on her map. _All of them_. The Zabagliones couldn’t possibly own all of them. Maybe Dona planned it all out for-

Oh.

That’s why.

His lips curled. He covered his mouth as he went into an almost hysterical laugh. Dona, you crafty bitch. Dona, you crafty, crafty, _crafty_ bitch.

He couldn’t find it in himself to get ready for bed. The couch was too comfortable and his eyes were more than wide open. At least he had something on the TV to distract him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments & criticism appreciated :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you're interested, [here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk88i4UplVQ&t=) the scene from johnny guitar that jigen was watching last chapter  
> warning possibly for very light sexual mentions? there'll be a use for me warning like this i promise

The rising sun woke him up. It flashed and burned in the most sensitive parts of his eyes. He tossed and turned on the couch a few times as his brain started functioning. The linen of his dress shirt rubbed against him.

 

Once he could see without rubbing his eyes, he slowly sat himself up and checked his watch. A little past six-thirty in the morning.

 

Once he reached a human level of consciousness, he discovered that he was sweaty and his clothes from yesterday were sticking to him and he probably smelled like shit. He made himself stand up, moving slowly and stretching out his aching back. God, he had to stop falling asleep on couches. He snuck quietly into the room where Fujiko was sleeping, grabbed a pair of his briefs and sweatshorts, and made his way to the shower.

 

This particular hideout was an unusually sizeable multi-family apartment all the way in Bushwick with three bedrooms. He usually got the third bedroom whenever they came here. Now, since Fujiko was here, she got his room for herself. Who was _he_ to _her_ , right?

 

_“Why can’t she sleep in the same bed as you?”_

 

_“C’mon, you saw how exhausted she was. Just for tonight.”_

 

_“And then she’ll be exhausted tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after. Then she’ll leave with all the cash, and the clock, if she feels like it. She’ll be a real spring chicken once she has that clock.”_

 

_“You’re a big boy, Jigen. You’ll live. Besides, you wouldn’t mind sleeping with Goemon anyways, would you?”_

 

He didn’t wanna wake him by climbing into their bed when it was pretty much morning. The water from the shower was doing a great job at waking him up, so he wasn’t tired anymore, anyhow.

 

_He pinned him to the door, holding his wrists above his head in one hand and kissing him as if he were chivalrous. It wasn’t every day you could see his ass in his pants. He’d even calmed down and let him do what he wanted. Not everything was a competition. Though his wounds were still healing. He had to go slow. It was the first time in years he’d felt compelled to make someone else cum._

 

_“Don’t think too much.”_

 

He hoped no one had to share the room with him for the next few minutes.

 

It was too humid to wear a shirt and pants. The sweatshorts were up to his knees but they did him well. He headed straight for the kitchen-area and then to the coffee machine. That big bag Goemon mentioned last night waited for him on the kitchen counter. What could the three of them have possibly collectively gotten him for this particular night, anyways? He fixed his drink and rummaged through the bag to pull out something a bit heavy and smooth to the touch.

 

A leather jacket.

 

Real, black leather. Used, but hardy. Sewn in were an eclectic array of patches. A U.S. Army patch from World War II, a souvenir from some gift shop by the Grand Canyon, the road sign for Route 66, a boy scout symbol, a naked cartoon devil-woman, and an artistic depiction of a samurai’s _kabuto_ , among many others. The first owner must’ve been quite the traveler. The leather smelled that way, too, like the long-forgotten corner of an attic.

 

He used to have a well-loved leather jacket, too, before he switched over to suits. Everyone did back then.

 

The tag on the collar read “M” - his size. He was an “S” back when he wore leather jackets on the regular. The change was attributed to having put on muscle, thank you very much. He slid his arms into the sleeves one by one and eased into the weight of the material. A bit tight on the joints, as all leather jackets were, but warm and sturdy. He thought he’d felt something else inside the bag, so he fished his hand until he found it.

 

A police-style hat.

 

Black leather as well, though it must’ve been a different type than the jacket. Devoid of any patches. He placed it on his head. He did like his hats. Leather jackets and leather police hats - just like he used to wear way back when. God, who in their right mind would’ve gotten rid of these?

 

Not to mention that his birthday was almost a week away. Why’d they get him such nice things for _today_?

 

There seemed to be some sort of unofficial rule between the three of them regarding birthdays; If you wanted to do something special, all you had to do was ask. The most recent birthday was Goemon’s. Despite the recent, difficult involvement with the yakuza he had, he’d stammered out that he wanted to go to Disneyland. _Disneyland_. He’d only ever been to Nara Dreamland, he explained, and he wanted to see what the original American version was like. How’d the idea even get into his head? Luckily, they’d been able to catch a flight to L.A. a few nights before. Tedious, but a fun little trip regardless.

 

Fujiko’s birthday was a different story, but he wasn’t Fujiko. He’d informed Lupin that he wanted to spend his own special day indoors doing nothing. Maybe going out for a steak and whiskey if he felt like it. They didn’t even have to spend it with him if they didn’t want to. It’s been a hell of a year and the least he could do to honor it was catch his breath. A B44 Shooting Star would be nice, too.

 

But, evidently, those weren’t Dona’s plans for him.

 

There was no doubt in his mind that she’d planned this as some deranged birthday present so he could “reflect” on the miserable past years of his life. She always was the sentimental type. That’s why she was so vague about the job over the phone. She literally took the time to map out _every single establishment_ he visited at least once in his past life. No, not just the places he was a regular at. Every. Single. One. She knew he’d remember. She was all about introspection and reminiscing and being happy with your life and stuff, and she knew he wasn’t. She wanted to teach him a valuable lesson as if he were a fucking preschooler or something.

 

But she also knew he hated shit like this. She wouldn’t subject him to something she knew he’d dread. And a _job_ at that. And his birthday was in a week, not today. Why did she plan it for today? What was her motivation behind it? Why’d she get Lupin and the others into it as well? What was she hiding?

 

Well, he could always ask her.

 

He checked his watch again. A little past seven-forty-five. Shit, already? He grabbed the rotary on the counter and thumbed the number for the office of the owner Caprese Realty, the official cover for the head of the American Caprese business, which he memorized by heart. He dragged himself and the phone to the corner of the kitchen and pressed his face and hand on the receiver. The other three couldn’t here any of this.

 

It didn’t take a long before he got an answer. “Caprese Realty, Donatella speaking.”

 

He spoke in the quietest voice he could without whispering. “Dona.”

 

“Oh, hey, Jigen. You’re up early. Something the matter?”

 

“It was for my birthday. Wasn’t it?”

 

“What? What was?”

 

“Don’t play dumb. I could tell you did this on purpose. You know my birthday’s next week. You gave Lupin a deliberate map of quite literally every single ‘establishment’ I used to visit as a kid as some sort of weird birthday thing so I could remember my life or something. Right?”

 

She was silent. Stunned. Then, she started chuckling a bit. “...You caught me. Woulda been more fun if you’d figured it out later, though.”

 

Of course he was right. Dona was Dona, after all. Even if he was mad, he couldn’t make himself sound as much. “C’mon, Dona, we’ve known each other for years. You know I hate shit like this.”

 

“I know very well you hate shit like this. But…I still need those passages.”

 

_She’s hiding something._

 

“So?”

 

“What?”

 

“You could’ve asked your guys to clear them for you. I’d have been fine with a regular gift for my birthday. Could’ve even asked me to visit you in Carnegie Hill for mimosas.”

 

“I...wanted _you_ to do it.”

 

“For my _birthday_?”

 

“I know how capable you are. It was to...honor that.”

 

“You hadn’t seen me in person in over a year. I was in _Japan_ when you first told me about the job. You know dozens of capable people other than me.” He almost started laughing. “What, should I make you assassinate someone for me for your birthday while reciting the names of every man you’ve ever slept with to your friends and family? ‘Cause you’re such a good boss?”

 

A pause. She was still there. He’d gotten her.

 

“Well…it’s...it’s not like that.”

 

“Then what is it?”

 

“Well, it’s...you _are_ the reason my family’s being tormented. So...I thought….” There was a short pause. “...And then you offered to pay the money back, and I felt bad.” She muttered under her breath. “ _Goddamnit. I shouldn’t ‘a put that damn ashtray on the coffee table._ ”

 

His mouth all but dropped. She’d said nothing like this on the phone before. Or yesterday, for that matter, when he thought she’d been honest with him. As a _Donna_ , he knew she wasn’t above sneaky stuff like this, but...never towards him. She was so cool yesterday. If she had a problem with him, she always told him.

 

“So, let me get this straight. I was the cause of your family being ‘tormented’ and you wanted to get revenge on me...by making me and my friends visit all the shitty leather bars I used to go to so we could clear out the hidden passages for you. To embarrass me. As a _birthday gift_.”

 

“What do I look like, a high school bully? No, the leather bar part of it was just for your birthday. The clearing out the passages was the revenge thing. The fact that you’d be embarrassed by my sentimentality was just too convenient. Though I didn’t know you’d ended up such a prude. Thought you’d at least enjoy yourself.”

 

Ok, maybe he was right. She always told him if she had a problem with him. It wasn’t about embarrassing him with the people he hid with. Though she never told him that she was this upset with him about Luciano’s death. She did use the word “revenge”, after all. She may have cared for him, but he wasn’t the father of her children.

 

“I was still the cause of Luciano’s death. Why this? You could’ve had me killed if you’d wanted to.”

 

“I...I didn’t wanna lose anyone else I care about.”

 

He raised his brows.

 

“And it’s not like you killed him yourself. Or Cicciolina’s husband, for that matter.”

 

“But I still hid.”

 

“You did what you had to. You were looking out for yourself. Anyone with a brain woulda done the same thing.” She sighed. “Too many lives are lost in useless family conflicts. I ain’t here to prove my superiority, I just wanna make money. You don’t make money by wastin’ your resources on trackin’ someone down and killin’ ‘em. But you do by havin’ a secret passageway on the Lower West Side where you can hide some of your savings and product, plus six new businesses under your wing. That would've been enough for me.”

 

He started shaking his head. Of course. Of course she was this selfless. Even towards him. She used to get worried when her little sister didn’t get home before midnight more than their own father did. Dona was still Dona and she’d always be Dona.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“‘Cause I knew you woulda offered to pay them back yourself, like you did yesterday! You have too much shit on your plate to deal with that sorta stuff.”

 

But she still bore the burden of his mistakes. He couldn’t accept that.

 

“I’ll do both.”

 

She stammered. “...Seriously? I just-”

 

“I know you pride yourself on being a fine businesswoman, but like I said yesterday, it’ll get them off your ass for good.”

 

“A-are you serious?! They’ll go after you!”

 

“I’m one of the top professional gunmen in the _world_. I’m friends with the one of the top professional swordsmen and two more-than-exemplary master thieves. I think I’ll be fine.”

 

He noticed that his voice was a bit louder than it had to be and temporarily stopped himself to quiet down.

 

“Plus, they’ve been after _you_ for a long damn time now, when what they really want is me. I do the job tonight, I’d have paid my due. You’ll have what you want. If I pay them back, they’ll have what they want. This whole mess’ll be over and done with. If they track me down, they track me down. I’ll even do the damn birthday thing if it makes you happy.”

 

Another long pause. His face had heaten up. He caught his breath. That more or less got his point across.

 

It took her a while to answer. “...You’re right. I’m sorry.”

 

“You didn’t do anything.”  He forced the sentence out of him before he could think twice.

 

“But I did, Jigen. But I did. God, you’re too sweet. Your fuck-buddy doesn’t deserve you. Whoever he is.”

 

“Dona.”

 

“Sorry, sorry! But it’s true.” She forced out a short, breathy laugh. “If you don’t mind, I need some time to myself. I got work to do. Good luck tonight.”

 

“Thanks. Have fun at work.”

 

“I’ll try my best. Bye.”

 

“Bye.” He hung up and put his head in his hands.

 

She’d even been willing to give him that damn clock as leverage to her conscious for tricking him.

 

This always happened. He thought he could trust someone (usually a woman, but not always) and his trust was turned right back around to bite him in the ass. It’s not like Dona did it out of malice. But when it came to dealing with these types of people, if your family was being tormented and your own husband killed, you had a right to be angry. He’d rather she just sent out an assassin to kill him. It’d make things a lot easier.

At least he was finally getting this over with. This wasn’t the only issue he had to deal with but he’s been hiding from this particular one for too long. Ever since he dealt with the shit in East Doroa, it’d been lingering in the back of his mind until Dona called him up. And, despite the complications, he’d been able to confront her. It’d be over and done with by tomorrow morning.

 

But one problem remained.

 

Should he tell the others about this? Would it change anything about tonight? Would he feel any better? He had some time to think before it actually mattered at least. Until then, he’d just...calm down.

 

The handle to the front door wiggled. He was almost tempted to run and grab his Magnum before Goemon entered the room and closed the door behind him. Fully awake and fully dressed, holding a plastic bag with multiple red THANK YOUs written on it. Hair still black.

 

“‘Morning, Goemon.”

 

“‘Morning.” He quickly averted his eyes, for some reason. It was strange - he was usually like that with women, never men.

 

Oh, right. He was still wearing his new jacket and hat.

 

He was probably a sordid sight - leather jacket and police cap on top of nothing but underwear and sweatshorts. He took off the jacket and hat and placed them back in the bag.

 

“Where’ve you been?”

 

“I went on a walk.” He held up the bag. “I saw a Chinese supermarket along the way and decided to stop there to get myself some tea.”

 

“A supermarket was open? This early in the morning?”

 

“People are more than capable of running out of milk in the morning.”

 

“Give me the tea. I’ll make it for you.”

 

Goemon handed him the bag and sat himself at the nearby miniscule dining table. Jigen fished out the only item inside - a small paper box. Green tea infused with jasmine. He started the kettle and grabbed a mug.

 

“You found your presents.”

 

“I did. They’re...really nice. Where’d you find ‘em?”

 

“A second-hand shop. Although everything there was expensive. The jacket was around three hundred dollars or so.”

 

Three hundred dollars? For a used leather jacket? Well, he wore neckties that were more expensive than that. People would really pay for anything these days.

 

He placed a tea bag in the mug. “Huh. When’d you have time to get it?”

 

“While you were alone at Miss Caprese’s apartment yesterday. We met with Fujiko and went to some of the addresses listed on the map. Lupin insisted we do as much since you seemed so...apprehensive. We found the shop along the way.”

 

Of course he wouldn’t forget about it. He doesn’t forget anything. If someone’s acting weird, he looks into it. That’s why he’s such a good thief. He should’ve just acted like he didn’t care from the beginning. Hell, he’d even gotten him things that he would actually wear. Or did that just count as friendship? Whatever. Now he just had to anticipate him making crude jokes and laughing at him. And maybe Goemon and Fujiko as well if they were so inclined. Wonderful.

 

The kettle was steaming, so he turned it off and poured the water. He had to wait. Goemon always insisted the tea bag sit in there for a few minutes.  

 

“Fujiko brought the jacket and the hat with her when she came back with all her shopping.”

 

“They had to put it on hold for a while. Something about a fault in their record-keeping. Fujiko wanted to keep shopping so she went to pick it up when it was ready.”

 

“Huh. Who knew Fujiko was capable of thinking of others.”

 

He shifted his eyes. “...She can, sometimes.”

 

Goemon was smart, grounded, able to control himself, and not batshit insane. Jigen had no idea why he ever bothered with her in the first place. He hated it when Lupin was acting on behalf of his dick irrationally just as much as he did, but, shit. Fujiko, or any other woman for that matter, could just wink at him and he’d be like puddy in their hands.

 

He was never that nervous around him. He probably thought of it as a "friend-with-benefits" sort of thing. That sort of thing wouldn't bother him, right? Well...it _was_ a “friends-with-benefits” thing. Something something traditional values. Something something pact between two men.

 

God, why did he even care? This wouldn’t have bothered him if they’d met five or ten years ago. He hated when Lupin did it too,  but even if it got in the way of their work to a frustrating degree, he knew they were still buddies. It was even sort of routine at this point. And God save him if he ever became “fuck buddies” with a hairy half-Japanese Alain Delon who couldn’t last for more than two minutes without a cock ring (according to Fujiko, among others).

 

The green tea looked yellow enough. He threw the bag in the trash and mixed in some sugar. He then grabbed his own mug, placed them on the table, and sat down across from Goemon.

 

Goemon held his cup in both hands. “You fell asleep on the couch again.”

 

Jigen shrugged. “Guess so.”

 

“I’m tired of hearing you complain about how much your back hurts.”

 

“I never complained while treating any of your wounds.”

 

“My wounds don’t hinder your fighting ability.”

 

“Hey, I can still do stuff with a stiff back. Just hurts.”

 

“Then stop falling asleep on the couch.”

 

“I won’t make any promises I can’t keep.”

 

There was a few minutes of silence. The call. He should say something. But he couldn’t force any words out of his throat.

 

Is that what happened once you started growing old? You gradually became more and more sentimental? Did Dona just go through the transformation sooner than he had because she was older? Is that what happened to Cicciolina? If that was the case, he wouldn’t mind dying before it happened to him. He took a sip of his coffee. It was upsettingly lukewarm now.

 

Fujiko was the next one to wake up. She reeled her way to the table and sat with them. Hair disheveled. Wearing his t-shirt, which reached up to her thighs, and quite literally nothing else. Whatever, there was always the laundry. They all wished each other good mornings.

 

“Jigen, can you fix me a coffee?”

 

“Only if you put on pants. I don’t want the next chair I sit in to have ass sweat on it.”

 

She used the t-shirt to cover more of her lower-half and repositioned herself on the chair.

 

“Fair enough.”

 

He made her drink. They had a good twenty minutes or so until Lupin came in clad in heart-print boxers and an undershirt. He had a different book in his hands now, a light blue one, titled _Crystal Healing and You: A Guide to Crystals and Stones to Improve Your Health and Happiness._

 

“‘ _Although the phallic shape of the rose quartz may suggest the singular use of improving matters of a sexual nature, it is also beneficial in all matters of love, including helping one love themselves.’_ These people really don’t get that long doesn’t equal ‘phallic-shaped’. Jigen, can you fix me a coffee?”

  


\----

  
  


There was a time where this was what he’d worn every day. The white t-shirts with a breast pocket came in a five pack for two dollars. He could’ve gotten the cheaper, heftier department store jeans, but he always saved up for the expensive ones, even if they ripped easily. He had one jacket, one hat, and one pair of sneakers, all of which he’d stubbornly worn past their due date. His fixation and dependence on motorcycles suggested the more or less constant use of riding gloves. He always carried the same knife, even though he longed for a six-shooter like those desperados in the movies had.

 

The jacket on his back now was three hundred dollars, the hat on his head probably similarly priced. He didn’t wear t-shirts at all anymore; one of his usual dress shirts replaced it. He could afford those expensive jeans, too, no matter how many times they ripped, though he didn’t wear jeans too often either. A nice, vintage pair of leather combat boots which he pegged for the ‘10s or ‘20s or so replaced his then-favored sneakers. He was still wearing riding gloves, though he wouldn’t be riding anything today. He had his own six-shooter at his hip rather than a knife to boot.

 

But, looking in the mirror, it felt more or less the same.

 

He’d become one of those older, more experienced men at the bars he used to idolize. The lone wolf sort who seemed to always be attracting trouble yet still had the time to get their shit together. Though it really didn’t mean much anymore. He was just...himself now.

 

There was no use dwelling in it. Everything suited him fine. He looked fine. The others were probably ready now. Barring Fujiko, of course, since she always took so long to do her makeup. It took Lupin a shorter time to do more complicated looks. What was the hold-up? He re-fitted his hat and closed the door to Goemon’s room.

 

He knocked on the door of Fujiko’s (his) on his way to the living room.

 

“We need to head out soon, it’s a long ride all the way to Hell’s Kitchen.”

 

“I’ll be done in a minute,” she responded from in there.

 

“Your minute is the rest of the world’s half an hour.”

 

“Don’t get your panties in a knot. I don’t have much more left to do. We’ll be out of here before sunset.”

 

He groaned. Hopefully, ‘before sunset’ would be enough. But there was no rushing her. He moseyed over to the living room.

 

Goemon sat cross-legged on the couch with his arms crossed. Lupin, with an unrecognizable face, waited in the apartment’s hub, leaning against the kitchen counter.

 

Was now a good time to tell them about his conversation with Dona? Should he even do it?

 

Lupin wolf whistled as Jigen entered the room. “You look faaaaaab! Choice, man, choice. Right on.” He spoke in a gravely, breathy voice that was hardly his own. Jigen still had no idea how he was able to change voices like that.

 

“People don’t use that much slang so close together, Lupin.”

 

“Right, right,” he responded, speaking in his normal voice. “Still, we did a great job picking these out for you, huh? It’s like you’re in your element.”

 

Jigen recounted what he looked like in the mirror. “You did. I’ll give you that much.”

 

“See? I know my stuff.” He reverted back to his disguise voice. “You’ll be the talk of the town. Big Dick.”

 

Jigen folded his arms. “Does that _have_ to be my name?”

 

“Hey, don’t flip your wig! I was just tryin’ to do you a solid.”

 

“You won’t be ‘doing’ me any ‘solids’ until you start talkin’ like a normal human.”

 

Lupin didn’t even look like a normal human, either. He was a disaster and a half. Everything in his outfit clashed to a degree that should’ve been considered a national emergency. From colors, to patterns, to cheap fabrics, to unneeded accessories, to things cut when they shouldn’t be cut, Jigen all but cringed. At least it was a disguise.

 

Goemon, on the other hand, was wearing what he always did.

 

“Why doesn’t Goemon have a disguise?”

 

“He used us teasing him about looking like a hippie to avoid wearing his.”

 

“You can’t fight in close combat effectively in tight pants,” Goemon interjected. “Trendy clothes weren’t made for samurai.”

 

Lupin began smoothing out his tousled dark blonde wig. “I wear ‘tight’ pants and do just fine.”

 

“I would like to see you move around nearly as much as I do.”

 

He thought he saw a pair of striped bell bottoms that looked too small to be his laying on the floor of the closet. He briefly remembered how he woke up that morning and rubbed his eyes.

 

They waited, making meaningless small talk. He could bring it up any time now. Maybe...maybe not to all of them, like this. Maybe just to Lupin. He’d wait a bit.

 

It took a few minutes before Fujiko finally, _finally_ exited her (his) room. Her disguise made sense, at least. A long, wavy black wig with a medieval-style shirt he’d seen singers and actresses wear in magazines lately and hot pants. But did it really take that long to make a normal woman’s face look like another, completely different normal woman’s face? She and Lupin probably just enjoyed the process.

 

“I’m, like...um...ready.” Fujiko was also a master at the mysterious art of altering one’s voice.

 

“Groooovy. We should, like, head out, then.”

 

“Um…alright….but, do we...like…know...what train we’re taking?”

 

Jigen already had one foot out the door before she could finish her sentence. “Yes, we do. C’mon.”

 

Jigen let the others out of the building and to the subway station. It was, as Fujiko had promised, before sunset. Maybe they’d get to Hell’s Kitchen before evening. He put his hands in his back pockets and stared at the ground. This was going to be hours longer than it had to.

 

It didn’t take long for the train to come to the station, thankfully. They all sat together in a row - Fujiko, Lupin, Jigen, Goemon. They made sure Goemon had the first pick at seats. Polite passengers took glances at them but averted their eyes seconds after. The not-so-polite passengers took their time gawking at the two hippies, leatherman, and whatever it is they interpreted Goemon to be. 

 

Nothing really bad other than that, except for Goemon's disposition. He seemed absolutely livid. He quickly caught any stare coming in his direction. Or maybe that was just how he usually responded to onlookers? It was harder when you had to sit in close quarters with people, for sure. Either way, Jigen placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a nod. He probably should’ve briefed him that Americans tended to not mind their own business whether they were actively trying to or not.

 

Jigen? He was used to it. You couldn’t get around most places in the city and its boroughs with a motorcycle most nights. There always seemed to be something about him worth staring at, even if he looked completely average. But definitely not when you dressed in a leather jacket and a t-shirt. Not until recent times, at least.

 

The other two were keeping to themselves. Lupin was right next to him and they had a good amount of minutes before their stop. Now would be a good a time as any to tell Lupin about his conversation with Dona that morning.

 

He held his breath.

 

“Lupin.”

 

He turned to him, answering in his normal voice. “Yeah?”

 

“There’s...there’s something about the job I should’ve probably told you earlier.”

 

“Spit it out, then.”

 

“I...we shouldn’t have to check every building on the map. on the map.”

 

He leaned in closer. “Oh? And why not?”

 

Might as well tell the truth.

 

“I actually called Dona on the phone this morning. She told me herself she added all those..places just for my birthday. You know, next week? And I know you visited them. She purposefully put them on the map to fuck with me. The Zabagliones probably don’t even own them. It’d just be worth it to check the buildings that are the closest together. They’re probably the ones that are most likely to have the tunnel running through them.”

 

And there it was again - Lupin’s unmistakable, signature, stupid, sly grin that bore all his teeth and made Jigen have to desperately resist his urge to knock them out.

 

“You really expect me to believe that? With the show you put on at her house yesterday, you _would_ be trying to make excuses.” He patted him on the shoulder. “But don’t worry. I won’t make you stay anywhere you don’t wanna be at for too long.”

 

So much for that. Convincing him would be harder than just going along with his whims, so he’d take him at his word.

 

“If you do, I’ll-”

 

“‘-kill you and spit on your grave.’ Yeah, I know.” “Can’t you at least _try_ to have fun? The entire world isn’t against you, as much as you love to believe it.”

 

Jigen vehemently didn’t respond. He looked straight ahead and he made himself look as broody as possible. That usually got Lupin off his back. But not this time. After a few seconds, he clasped his hands.

 

“No, you know what? I’ll tell you something embarrassing about me. That’ll make us even, right?” He rested hand on his chin. “I...hmm. I used to pee my bed until I was five.”

 

“That’s normal.”

 

“Ah, seriously? Well...I had really bad acne as a teenager.”

 

“That’s also normal.”

 

“Oh, right, right. Um…my family has male pattern baldness, so I’ll probably start losing hair soon.”

 

He lifted his cap and bangs to show Lupin his own receding hairline.

 

“What? Since when are you balding?”

 

“Since a while. I just hide it.”

 

“Damn.” He scratched his head. “Is it really that hard to think of one actually embarrassing thing about yourself?”

 

“Only for you.”

 

“Huh.”

 

They’d finally gotten to their stop. Jigen led them on the short walk to their second station just across the street. As soon as they sat down for the shorter, second commute, it came to him.

 

He scooched a little closer to him and spoke in a soft voice.

 

“The hat and the jacket you guys got me were really nice.”

 

“Thanks. You already said that, though.”

 

“No, I know. I was just thinking I’d get you a thank-you gift. I think I’ll get you...viagra.”

 

“Viagra? Why’s that?”

 

He whispered right in his ear.

 

“I heard a rumor that you can’t last more than two minutes without a cock ring.”

 

Lupin turned absolutely mad. His teeth clenched, eyebrows furrowed, hands clenching the fabric of his pants.

 

“W-WHAT?! Who said that?!”

 

The other people on the train, Fujiko and Goemon included, not knowing what the commotion was about, stared at the two of them. Jigen folded his arms under his head and snickered.

 

“Can’t tell you. They’re in the Witness Protection Program.”

 

Lupin folded his arms. “T-two minutes?! T-that’s not true, damnit! When I find out who said that, I’ll…I’ll...”

 

The ride continued in silence, Lupin more brooding and pensive than usual. Who knew he was this caught up about it? Maybe he’d actually get him viagra if he really needed it.

 

At least the ordeal had gotten a bit of the pressure off Jigen’s back. These people weren’t his enemies. They already had a good idea where they were going. He just had to act cool about it. It was a job, just like any other, no matter what Lupin said. After all this was done, his due to Dona would be paid, and a huge ball chained to his leg would be cut off.

 

Hopefully.

 

The subway reached its stop. He took a deep breath and rose from his seat.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> story is going to progressively get less light-hearted from here. i'm not exactly sure how to warn for this one (there's one homophobic slur at the beginning but it's not used in the context of harassment). i think i may just tag this fic later, my writing style is very eclectic

The city was funny. It was one of the largest in the world. The most densely populated in the country. But there were still moments where Jigen would go into the supermarket near his old house and see at least five people he went to high school with. It was always awkward. Them, middle class, married, and with children, buying groceries for the week. Him, in his new, expensive suit that Dona bought him because her bodyguards needed to dress as well as she did, just dropping by and getting beef jerky and a pack of cigarettes along the way.

“Why, hello, fag-who-always-got-detention-and-dropped-out’, they’d say with an icy smile. ‘I see you’ve been doing well for yourself.’ To which he’d reply, while conveniently covering his six-shooter with his arm, ‘Yeah, I took over my father’s business, got a me a family. We’re over in Williamsburg. Came here to visit.’ He’d have to stop himself from laughing at this alternate version of himself he’d invented just so they wouldn’t ask him any more questions. They never did, though they were always wide-eyed in surprise. Then, they smiled at the fact that this useless piece of shit who couldn’t rub two numbers together to solve a stupid algebra equation could get himself back up and move on. If he could, then they could certainly save up enough money for their brats to go to college, or they could certainly get a promotion at their nine-to-five. At least he was worth something at the end.

Outside of the vexatious bubble of his adolescence, he didn’t have much of a reputation that wasn’t tied in some way to the fact that he was a skilled gunman. He didn’t like to make himself known as much as, say, Hans, one of Donatella’s 'attorneys', a German expatriate who moonlighted as a hustler, blackmailer, and nightclub queen. (He shuddered just thinking about him.) There was no need to, anyways. All of those social circles, no matter where they were or who they were composed of, were all the same at the end. Bored idiots who’ve never had an intelligent conversation in their life with nothing better to do than gossip behind each other's backs.

And that was how he got his branding as ‘mysterious’. It’s not that he’s mysterious. It’s just that talking to someone who saw him as a caricature of stories and vague traits annoyed him to no end.

He placed a cigarette between his lips and lit it. Their first stop wasn’t that bad - a tiny bail bond office near the subway station they’d just left. Conveniently, a set of stairs led down to a door to the basement. Lupin unlocked it and they let themselves in. 

He wasn’t an expert on basements but this one seemed pretty normal. Head to toe cement and brick, lots of space, lots of water and heating machines or whatever those were.

“Alright, remember what I said.” Lupin stepped out ahead of them and began to investigate with a strange machine he pulled out of his pocket. “Anything that looks big, movable, and important, but not too important. Nothing fastened to the ground. And wait for me to examine the material density and how hollow the walls are before-”

 Fujiko placed her hands on her hips. “Are you sure there’s no better way to do this?”

He attempted to move several of the tanks to no avail. “Not until we have more leads to go on other than the ones Donatella gave us.”

“Shouldn’t we be finding leads, then?”

“And how do you suggest we do that?”

The three of them turned their attention to Jigen at the same time. He almost swallowed his cigarette.

“Don’t ask me. I know as much as you guys do.”

Goemon folded his arms. “Jigen, we know that is not true. Get over it and cooperate with us.”

“C’mon, Jigen. You have to know _something_ .” A polite way for Lupin to say, ‘You _do_ know something.’

Easier said than done, really. He thought for a bit, attempting to recall every tiny, related bit of information he'd absorbed in the past years. Underground secret passages were probably as old as the city itself and provided a multitude of services for those working in the underworld. A good couple of minutes passed before it came to him.

“Well…there's a ton of basement passages like that throughout the city. ’Cause of how things here are built, you’d have to have the buildings with the passages built close together. It’s more likely that it’s six buildings in a row.”

It seemed obvious when it came out of his mouth. Why didn’t he think of it earlier? It’d save them from having to go anywhere weird, too. Lupin fished out the map and from his vest and unrolled it on the floor, holding it out with his knees.

“In a row...vertical, horizontal, diagonal?”

“Don’t think it matters.”

The three of them looked over as Lupin pulled out a red marker and thought out the crossword puzzle. He did some picture calculations on a separate piece of paper before circling five possible rows on the map. Not much of a help, but it’d gotten a couple of the more unruly establishments (and one of the worst Polish restaurants he’d even been to, which he’d also coincidentally been banned from) out of the way. At least that.

“Forty-six to thirty, now. And this isn’t one of them. Funny how that works.” He turned to Jigen. “Anything else? Zambaglione security concerns, popular joints…”

‘Popular joints’? The bastard. “Any information I have’s outdated.”

“Any information you have will cut the night short.” He smirked and raised his brows. “Or do you wanna go cruising?”

Jigen’s teeth and fists clenched, even if he knew that Lupin meant nothing by it and never would. He couldn’t let his stupid jokes get to him. Besides, he was right. Looking over the map, one place caught his eye. It was pretty big but it was...goddamnit. God fucking damnit. He had to be cool. If he wasn’t, it’s just be more stupid jokes like that.

“Here.” He pointed to it. “This place is pretty popular. We can start there.”

Lupin rolled the map back up and put it in his vest. “Let’s go, then. What is it?”

They made their way out of the basement. Lupin locked it back up.

“Not important.”

They’d see, anyways.

The White Rabbit was probably his favorite place of all the ones he frequented. Quiet, relaxed, mellow. He could get a seat at the corner and not be bothered by anyone for the whole night. But it didn’t last long. Younger people started frequenting. They wore significantly less clothes. The music became faster. And people talked, talked, talked to him like he was a costumed mascot. He’d even seen people fucking in the booths. So he wasn't even able to go there anymore without feeling like he was at a frat party. He had no idea that the Zambagliones owned it before he'd seen it on the map. It was worth checking. But like hell he’d actually go in.

As they got closer, his pulse quickened. Hopefully, Lupin would keep on his promise. He’d better.

He’d squeezed his eyes shut as he reached the sidewalk from the street. He just had to be calm. People knew about the White Rabbit, right? No reason why he wouldn’t without it seeming weird. It’d all be fine.

Hopefully.

And then he opened his eyes. 

He swore that was where the White Rabbit used to be. The address checked out, this was definitely it. What the hell happened? The former club was now painted purple and decorated with ribbons and star-shaped, jeweled...window-decorations? Several potted plants and shelves were visible from the window. A hand-painted sign above read “ _Brujería Americana_ ”. 

The other three looked just as confused as he was, so they could probably sense that this wasn’t what he was expecting.

 “ _American Witchcraft_ ,” Fujiko kindly translated. “What could they possibly sell in there?”

 “They do not sell anything, most likely. Not mainly, anyways,” Goemon explained as if he knew. “It is probably a temple of some sort.”

 “There’s shelves inside, though.”

 “In that case...temples sell charms. This is probably something similar.”

Jigen put his hands on his hips and turned to Goemon. “I don’t think anyone’d paint their temple purple. Probably some hack fortune teller.”

 “Or the headquarters of a new-age religious group,” Fujiko suggested. “There’s been tons of those nowadays.”

 Lupin shrugged. “Whatever it is, they didn’t have to add the ‘American’ part. We already know what country we’re in.”

A hauntingly stiff silence encompassed them for too many seconds.

 “Let’s just get this over with.” Jigen went inside and the others followed.

The building had probably been sectioned off. He’d only remembered one, large room. This one was a tad smaller. There was a door behind the counter, too. The interior of the store was painted a dark midnight blue with golden stars like that one painting. The shelves were stocked with strangely labeled bottles, multicolored rocks, candles, tiny bags tied with string. Though he wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from a store that called itself ‘American Witchcraft’. Maybe this was a hippie thing. They headed towards the front.

A young lady with the longest, waviest, darkest hair he’d ever seen sat behind what appeared to be the reception desk or clerk’s desk or whatever. Her bangs drooped to cover her eyes, resisting the black headband embroidered with roses which attempted to pull them away. She was reading a book while writing inside of a journal. A black cat with a scar on one empty eye socket was perched at her side.

Lupin leaned over to them and whispered. “Let me handle this.” He walked up to her and put on his disguise voice.

"Excuse me-”

“Huh?!”

She jolted up and closed her journal. Amazingly, her hair didn’t move away from her eyes and she didn’t seem to care. The cat didn’t seem to care as much either and stayed in its place, glaring at them through its paws.

 “Oh. ’Evening.” She surveyed her new company with a raised brow. “You have an appointment, or are you walk-ins? I only do fortunes. Spell ladies just left. They’ll be back tomorrow.”

 Jigen figured he’d just ask.

 “Is this where the White Rabbit used to be?”

 She raised her brows. “The White Rabbit? Yeah. Moved a while ago. All the way to Greenwich Village last August. This shop’s owned by the same guy.”

 That was anticlimactic. Though the map stretched there, maybe the new location was on it? At least that confirmed that both of these locations could be Zambaglione buildings. Now, he had a couple of more hours to worry.

 Lupin turned around and gave him a face. He then gave himself permission to lean against the desk.

 “Say, sister. You, uh...you a Scorpio?”

 “I am. Why?”

 He winked. “I can always tell just by lookin’ at someone.”

 She tilted her head. “I mean...you’re right. But I also have my-”

 “-moon and ascendant in Scorpio too, so you were always cautious about how intense you came off to others.”

He gave a gentle, fatherly, uncharacteristic-of-Lupin smile. “But I can feel your intelligence and passion seeping through all your words and actions. You shouldn’t be insecure ‘cause you can't stop yourself from wandering through the treacherous path of your subconscious like a scorpion in the desert, sister. Human beings were made to feel.”

 So much for someone he just met. She rested her head in her hand. Her lids drooped and she seemed just as interested as she was before. But that’s more or less how all young people are, isn’t it?

 “How’d you know all that?”

 “Like I said. I can always tell by lookin’. The universe guides me to the people I need to meet.”

He stepped a bit back. “Should probably introduce myself before I scare you any more. I’m Wolf. Drifter. Traveler. Practicing astrologist, but I’m also exploring crystal healing.”

 He gestured to Jigen. “This is my pal Richard. Most people just call him Big Dick.”

 She turned to him. “You’re not that tall. Why ‘Big Dick’?”

 "‘Cause I have a big dick,” he replied absently. He decided he’d politely ignore that first part.

 “Huh. Whatever works.”

 Lupin draped his arm over Fujiko’s shoulder. “This over here’s my girl Manko.”

 She leaned her head on his shoulder.  “I’m a wriiiiiiiiiter.” Why’d she pick a stupid character? How’d she even tag along with them all this way without complaining? Lupin must’ve bribed her.

 “She writes songs and stories and poems and stuff.”

 He gestured to Goemon. “And that’s-”

 “Goemon. I’m Goemon.” He crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air. “I’m not friends with him.”

 “...He’s the strong silent type. But it’s cool with us.”

 Her head moved slowly left to right. She was probably examining them. Could she even see? “So...did you come here for a reading, to ask me where the White Rabbit was, or just to introduce yourselves to me?”

 Lupin walked back to the desk and leaned on it in pensive seriousness. “Sister,” he started, “I hear there’s some buildings down here connected by six tunnels through the basement. Some sorta historical hideout made by Italian immigrants way back in the day. Y’know anything ‘bout that by any chance? My friends and I aren’t from ‘round here, and we just diiiig this sorta stuff.” His hand balled into a fist. “Those that are the lowest in society, finding a way to make a living while being cruelly mistreated by the rest of the world…It’s, like, a metaphor for the sorta shit that’s goin’ on in our country today, y’feel me?”

 “I wanna write a poooooooem about it,” Fujiko eloquently added.

 “Yeah, and my girl needs her creative inspiration to keep her soul alive.” He bowed his head. “So, you look like a girl about town. Y’know anywhere we could check?”

 She scratched her head.

 “I...I dunno.” 

They waited for her to finish thinking for a few good minutes. The cat glared at them through its one, green eye.

“Maybe...the Ajax Theatre on 42nd? It’s one of the larger buildings on its block. Good fodder for a secret underground tunnel.”

 Jigen cringed at the mention of that name.

“It’s on the map. ‘Bout a ten minute walk from here.”

“Right on, Dick. Right on.” He was just doing that to provoke him now, wasn’t he. “Thank you for your kindness, sister.” They made their way out the door.

“Wait.”

Before they could exit, the ‘lady-about-town’ called out. “How exactly are you planning to check the basements of the buildings?”

“We, like, have our ways. We’ll be fine, little sister.”

“Are you sure? I’ve lived here my whole life. People here won’t just let you go into the basements if you ask. I can help you out. The secret passages sound boss, anyways.”

Lupin smiled serenely. This is exactly what he was planning, wasn’t it?

“You sure? You got a store to keep.”

“We close in fifteen minutes. No one comes in on Friday evenings, anyways. I can close up shop now.”

“Cool, then. Real cool. Thank you kindly, sister.”

“It’s no problem. And you don’t have to keep calling me ‘sister’.”

She got up from her desk. The cat jumped off and followed her. She was a string bean of a person. Dressed in all black. Long, black chiffon dress and black boots with tons of obscure jewelry that reminded him of a church they’d been to in Mexico. Like some sort of vampire. Didn’t it get hot? She was tall, though not taller than him, who was supposed to be short. Taller than Goemon, though, even in his _geta_. He’d probably get up in arms about it.

“I’m Biba." 

No girl had ever picked on him for his height, anyways. 

The four of them waited, looking around as Biba and the cat closed up shop. They spent the time exploring the shelves and examining what kind of weird shit this place had to offer. Lupin snagged himself a mug-sized bottle of aphrodisiac because of course he would. Jigen took his spot after he left and squinted so he could read the tiny print on the bottle packaging.

“ _VENUS TOUCH is a new formula designed to ignite libido and increase sensitivity in all bodies and keep it lasting for the whole night. Made from all-natural ingredients from across the world. Put ¼ tsp in 8 oz of any non-alcoholic drink to experience effects.”_

Do people really believe that shit works? It was probably just vodka or something in there. Or maybe poison. He opened the bottle to have a sniff but it didn’t smell like alcohol or bitter almonds. Maybe it’s just water? He put the bottle down.

Goemon was staring at him from across the aisle with a frighteningly blank expression on his face.

“What? I was just reading it.”

He wordlessly focused his attention back to whatever he was doing before.

Fortunately, Biba didn’t take long. There didn’t seem to be much to do to close up. She headed towards the exit. The cat snaked its way between her ankles.

“Store’s closed now, officially.” She flipped the sign on the door. “We can look in the basement here, if you wanna. That’s why you came in anyways, right? Though I can’t say I’ve ever seen any hidden doors or anything like that down there.”

Lupin stepped to her side. “Lead the way.”

“Let’s go, then. Follow me.”

The four of them complied, clustering together as she and her cat led them through the employee’s door to a back room. They reached another, older looking door which opened up to a dingy-smelling abyss of stairs. They walked down to a basement equally as unexciting as the previous one they’ve been to, save for the tons of important-looking boxes and the posters of horror movies and trendy bands 

Biba faced Lupin and folded her arms. “So, how exactly are you planning to do this?”

They had their ways, of course. But how could four bums know everything that they did? Before they could answer, Biba positioned herself in front of a water tank. The cat raced across the floor to follow her.

“Most trap doors are hidden behind some sort of piece of furniture. You’re probably gonna wanna consider the placement of any larger items in a room that you see. Think of the ways you could move them.” She leaned on the tank. “Something like this, for example, is vital and attached to the ground through a tube. Plus, it’s heavy, so there’s probably nothing in here.”

Of course, they already knew that, but none of them could bring themselves to speak. They stared at her in awe, tracking her as she moved across the floor of the basement to a metal box a bit larger than her cat. At that, her cat had gone off exploring in some dark corner of the room.  How could this person (and a young person, at that,) they just met in a fortune shop of all places know all this stuff?

Biba pulled at the box, but it wouldn’t budge. “This one’s screwed to the ground too.” She stood herself back up. “Trap doors could be hidden pretty much anywhere in a room, so you’ll just have to tread carefully. And you’ll know when you see one, trust me. Oh, remember to listen behind walls, too.”

Not to mention that this was more or less how Lupin had explained this to them. They wordlessly gave each other confused looks.

“Excuse me, but how do you know all of this?” Fujiko was speaking in her disguise voice without the difference in speech pattern and intonation.

Biba didn’t seem to notice the change. She shrugged. “I like puzzles, I guess. Majoring in Mechanical Engineering doesn’t hurt, either.”

An awfully vague answer for a girl who works at a fortune-telling shop.

Lupin stepped in front of them with his arm out. Seems like he wanted to keep going as if nothing happened.

 “We’re grateful for the help, Biba. Didn’t have much of an idea of how to do it myself. Saw a cool movie ‘bout trap doors and stuff, but Dick told me it was unrealistic.”

He turned his head to him and made a face.

“No one can make an entire five foot long bookcase that moves, Wolf.”

“You never really know, dude! Anything’s possible!”

The cat came back with a small, bronze key in its mouth. It dropped it at Biba’s feet.

“Good boy, Stranger.” She bent down to pick up the key and gave the doglike and strangely-named Stranger a pat on the head. “This looks rusty, though. Don’t think it’ll help us much.” She tossed the key to Jigen, who fumbled with it to the point that it fell back on the floor and he had to pick it up again. It did look rusty, and the intricate design suggested that it went at least fifty years back. He put it in his pants pocket.

And thus, their search began.

The six of them examined different parts of the basement individually. They didn’t have much luck. Jigen couldn’t find any keyholes on which he could try the key, though Biba did, but the key wouldn’t open any of those. He decided to keep it on him just in case.

What was up with that girl? If she was lying to them somehow, she wasn’t doing a good job of it. He’d gotten a closer glimpse of her while he was working. Her bangs were perched over her eyes, but conveniently enough that she could see out of them. Her hands were scarred, dry, and calloused more than they should be for a student with a cushy desk job. Maybe mechanical engineering required hands-on work?

He moved over to where Lupin was working and spoke in a hushed voice.

“Oi. Don’t ‘cha think this girl’s a bit weird? I mean, she’s ok with helping us out of the blue just like that. And all the stuff she knows…”

He responded without looking at him. “Yeah, something’s up with her. She’s smart, though. I think she’ll be a help if we keep her around.”

And then she’ll pull out a gun and hold them for ransom and tell Cicciolina’s husband his location. And then she’d kill Dona and her kids. And then she’ll steal the money and the clock. That’s what happens when you trust random women you met not even an hour ago.

“Hmm. Guess she didn’t seem too threatening. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“It’ll be fine. We need all the leads that we can get, anyhow.”

He waited near the stairs for the others until they were finished. Goemon was done, too. He leaned against the stairwell. Stranger curled himself up into a ball at his feet. When he sensed his approach, the cat’s head jilted up. He hissed at him. His one eye followed every tap of his foot and curl of his finger. Well, he was always more of a dog person, anyways. 

After a few minutes, they headed back up the stairs and started making their way to the Ajax. God, he hated that place and its slimy, stuffy windowless rooms and sticky chairs. Though he had a little bit before he could worry about it. He hesitantly caught up with Biba. He had to keep an eye on her. 

“So, Biba.”

She flinched a bit but managed to give him a forced smirk. He doubted for a minute that she’d be so scared if she were actually up to something sinister. No, he couldn’t let his guard down.

“Hmm?”

“You’re studying engineering?” 

She arranged her bangs so they folded neatly and equally over her eyes. “Yeah. I'm over at Columbia. This is just my part-time job. Doin’ it for the whooooole summer.”

It was beyond him how anyone looking like that could get accepted to Columbia, let alone college in general. He didn’t go to college, though, so he wasn’t familiar with the process. Maybe they would’ve accepted a knife-wielding gangbanger, too?

 “So you’re an aspiring scientist who dabbles in the supernatural.”

 “Supernatural? Pfft. Fortune-telling is more of a...science.”

 “A science.”

 “Yeah. An exercise in psychology, neurobiology, and statistics. ‘Specially in my field of expertise.” She fished out a few cards from one of her large pockets and fiddled with them.“ The amazing thing about Tarot is that the cards encompass the entirety of the human experience. And us humans have a tendency to apply generalized statements to ourselves automatically. How can I explain this...”

She lightly tapped Goemon on the shoulder, who stopped along the way and gave her a curious look. Stranger, who’d been walking by his side and brushing up against his leg, stopped as well.

“Shuffle these for me?”

He put his finger to his lip and knitted his brows. Then, when he was finished, he looked to Jigen for what he assumed to be reassurance. When he gave him the okay, he took the cards, obediently shuffled them, and handed them back to her.

“Your past,” she began as she took out the second card in the pile, “is the Knight of Cups.” The card featured what seemed to be a knight gallantly riding a white horse and holding a golden chalice. “You’ve always looked at life inwardly through an emotional, romanticized lens. Which is good, in its own way. But intention lives to manifest itself in action. You can’t live inside of your mind all the time.”

She pulled the sixth card in the pile out. “Your present is the Four of Cups.” The card featured a man with crossed arms sitting under a tree in front of three chalices. A fourth chalice was being offered to him by a...floating cloud? “You’ve bared many trials throughout your life and your nature’s brought itself to its boiling point. This left you with a generally bad taste in your mouth regarding yourself, so the only person who you feel can bear listening to you is you. The more it presses you, the more apathetic you are, the more inwards you draw. You might even feel some guilt, considering everything you’ve already accomplished.”

Finally, she pulled out the first card in the deck. “Your future is Temperance.” The card bared an angel pouring water from one cup into another. “The phase you’re going through won’t last for long. You’ll find absolution - a balance between being comfortable with yourself and navigating the world confidently. But it’s not something that’ll happen automatically. Try to be clear with your friends, family, and other loved ones. Let them know the trouble you’re going through. Bottling yourself up isn’t a sign of strength. Feeling weak on the inside will make you weak on the outside as well.”

He kept his gaze sternly focused past her shoulder. He seemed to be on another plane entirely.

“...Thank you, Biba.”

“No problem. That’ll be five dollars-”

He reached for the inside of his yukata.

“Joke. I was joking. You don’t have to pay me.”

He brought his hands back to his side slowly, nodded, and walked on.

“Card trick,” she started when Goemon was at a safe distance. She shuffled the cards she’d pulled out back into the deck. “I take out the entire deck and pull out some cards that definitely won’t apply to the person. I’m more likely to pull out cards on top of the pile, so I make sure they’re shuffled in first so they don’t get changed around much.” She revealed her hand. “I put a bunch of cards from the suit of Cups - Cups represents emotions, by the way - on top of the deck, since I could sense that it was where his main problem laid. I also had The Moon in there - a more general representation of anxiety and confusion. Temperance, too, and I was lucky that it came out the way it did.” She put the cards back into her pocket. “Either way, I’m usually able to string together a story based on a few pointers I picked up on beforehand, like clothes, body language, personality, age, race...And I always have to end on a positive note. No one’ll wanna pay me if I tell them they’re doomed.”

No matter who she was, and his general thoughts on mystical poker, he had to admit that was impressive. It was common knowledge that fortune tellers turned tricks but this was the first time he’d seen it happen in real time. He wondered if Goemon believed in this stuff.

“You could tell that much about Goemon from knowing him for such a short time?”

“It’s an acquired talent.” She gestured towards him. “He’s well-groomed and stands with good posture. He’s assertive - confident, even. He likes you guys, but he seems like a fish out of water. I can see him looking both ways every couple of seconds. Keeps crossing his arms and looking down. And remember how he waited for you to give the okay before he shuffled the cards? He’s insecure about something, but he’s hiding it under a rock-hard shell.”

“Your cat seems to like him.”

“Stranger...likes quiet people.” She chuckled. “He’s very sensitive. I think he has some sort of innate ability to judge whether someone is a good person.”

The damn thing had hissed at him, and he hadn’t even said a word to him. Maybe all those former high school buddies of his were right.

Even at all his attempts to act nonchalant, he couldn’t help but wonder.

“Can you...tell what he’s insecure about?”

“‘Course not. Can’t even get a sense of it unless I spend more time with him. That’s why I always keep the statements I make in a reading vague as possible. Like I said, we humans have the tendency to apply vague statements to ourselves.“

That meant a lot of preparation and bullshitting on her part. Like a pyramid scheme of sorts. Did Biba actually believe in this stuff?

“So what you’re saying is that seeing into the future, connecting with spirits - it’s all bullshit.”

“Not necessarily. The fact that pretty much everything in the world can be explained as some chemical reactions - that scares people. They don’t like to think of life is just a bunch of molecules making them do things. Spiritual solutions give people a sense purpose. A sense that there’s a reason that we exist in the world other than that we were the first sperm to enter the egg. Fortune tellers, priests, ministers, astrologists, even therapists - we’re all the same thing. We’re a bridge between the understanding that emotions are just a bunch of chemical reactions and the burden of not wanting to live nihilistically. Maintaining that bridge is a power beyond the physical.”

She stopped and grabbed a napkin from a nearby food stand. “Or maybe I’m just biased after spending so much time at the shop. You got a pen?”

Jigen handed her his pen. He always carried one. She bent down and wrote something on the napkin using her knee as a hard surface.

“Come to the shop sometime. I’ll pretend I don’t know you and give you a reading. I’ll show you how it’s done.”

After being handed the pen and napkin, he took a glance at the writing. It had what he assumed to be the address and telephone number of the Brujería Americana hastily scribbled onto it. It wasn’t very readable but he’d be able to find it either way. He folded the napkin and placed the items in his jacket pocket. Maybe he’d make his way there, provided that Biba wasn’t intending on betraying them. No matter what her intentions were, she was certainly an interesting character. 

They were a little further into the city now. He started to recognize the streets. Manhattan wasn't his native borough, but even as nervous as he was, it was nice to see the area again. It was always sort of incredible how much about the city could change in such a short amount of time. The sun had almost finished setting so the humid air was filled with chatter and the sound of clinking glasses. He could see a clear picture in his head of the area about five or even ten years ago. He checked off the buildings in his head until coming to one of the newer ones at the end of the block across from them.

There, on the corner, was Rocket. One of Dona’s places. One of those newer, free-love, ‘anything goes’ sorts of places that were popular with the younger crowd. Not his thing, so he’d only ever been there once, with her, for her, on opening night. He’d left with her, too, with no alcohol in his blood and a pulsing headache. That was the last he’d ever wanted to hear of it.

Hans hung out there, too. He did at most of Dona’s clubs, but this one was his favorite because it was ‘so camp’. It was also where he’d resided on weekend nights in his private lounge, blackmailing, bribing, and fucking his way around the city. Sure he deferred to Dona, but the hedonistic never truly defer to anyone. Sometimes he wished that she’d just give him permission to kill him already. He hated to think that he’d ever been associated with him in the past. More or less an embodiment of everything he hated of the bubble of subculture.

They crossed the street.

Speak of the fucking devil. The muscles in his arms tensed.

There, on the corner, was the absolute last person he wanted to see. 

He had the body of a pro wrestler (if pro wrestlers wore corsets) and the face of a pubescent boy who was on his way to summer camp (if pubescent boys had handlebar mustaches). He stood taller than if he, Goemon, and Lupin were to stand on each other’s shoulders and put on an oversized trench coat. Better not say that out loud, though, or Lupin would actually wanna try it.

Hans.

Chatting up some vulnerable young man in a t-shirt and jeans. One long, leather glove on his arm. Black, heeled boots on his feet. Did they even make them in his size? And to think this guy’d known him since his twenties. Other than a thick stripe of grey in his blonde hair, he was practically the same. What was it? Hair dye? Plastic surgery? Steroids?

“Hans!” Biba rushed out ahead of them.

_What in the hell..._

“Biba! My dahling! Come hier." 

He picked her up in his arms and pulled her into a hug. A huge, hulking, sweaty, six-foot-something hug. Contrary to the popular belief, there was a fine line between beefy and scary. He was sure it’d be less awkward for him if he didn’t know him as well as he did.

Speaking of which, how the hell did Biba know him?

 “How’ve you been, Hans?”

 He released her from his grasp. “Zhe past few veeks have been...eventful. I can zay zhat much. Yourzelf?”

 “Not too shabby.”

She stepped aside, waiting for the rest of them to catch up.

“I zee you have made some new frenz.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s actually..a coincidence that we met you here! We need your help with something, if you got the time.”

He looked the four of them up and down. Jigen kept his gaze pointed firmly at the sidewalk. Stranger traveled from Goemon’s feet to Biba’s ankles and rubbed up against them. She picked up the aloof cat and swaddled him like a baby.

Hans rested his weight on one leg and put his hands on his waist. “My help? Interezting...I have never known you to be zhe type to need help, my dear. How can I assist you?" 

She, Fujiko, and Lupin took the time to explain the situation and introduce the four of them while they looked on silently. Jigen twisted half of his body away. He couldn’t even fucking look at anything right now. What they were thinking, he didn’t want to know.

No, just act cool. Act like you don’t know him. Lupin’s right. They needed all the leads they could get. The benefits outweigh the costs.

“So you little uhban explorers need me to help you find zese secret underground passagez.”

“Any help you could spare would be plenty, man." 

“What he said. I don’t think we should be too long.”

He rested his thumb and finger on his chin in thought.

What was he so busy doing, anyways? Ruining more people’s lives as he clawed his way to the top of a meaningless society that relied on the kindness of criminal organizations? Spreading himself like a disease to every living and breathing guy at least thirty years younger than him like that English queen who bathed in blood to retain her youth? The guy he’d been talking to had bolted off at this point, lucky him.

“...I suppose I have a few minutes to spare. Ve can discuss zis in my lounge.”

Oh, he _supposes_ he has a few minutes of his _precious time_ to spare! How generous. It was all pointless, anyways. He had to have known just as much as Dona did, or else they wouldn’t be looking for help. Though he seemed to know Biba. Maybe he could squeeze some information out of him regarding her. It was worth a try.

They all said their thank-yous as Hans escorted them past the line to the door.

But not without giving him a lingering smirk beforehand. 

He stared him down until he left him alone.

They all managed to make their way past the bouncer at Hans’s behest. After the hulking beast of a man let himself in, Jigen lingered for a bit near the entrance. Lupin and Goemon lingered along with him. Lupin with one foot inside.

“Jigen, you doing alright, man?”

“I’m fine. Head just hurts a bit. I’ll go in in a bit.” 

“Like I said, I won’t make you go anywhe-”

“I’m fine.”

Lupin sighed, shook his head, and went in. 

“You’re not fine.” Goemon peered behind him at the door. “Is that man dangerous?” 

Stubborn idiot. ‘Dangerous’ wasn’t even the half of it. Though he admired his ability to see past his clothes and mannerisms. 

“No, he isn’t dangerous. And I’m fine. Let’s go in.” He fished a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and headed towards the door. 

“Jigen.” He stood unmoving, persistent behind him.

“C’mon. It’ll be better if we just get it over with. We can lick each other’s wounds later.” 

Jigen held open the door for him. Goemon hesitantly made his way in, but not before meeting his eyes and standing in the doorway as if no one else was trying to enter. He placed a hand on his back and lightly hurried him along before entering himself.

They stayed close together as they navigated the cacophony of space race memorabilia and vaguely-thirties-forties-or-fifties callback interior decoration. The dim lighting and too-loud psychedelic rock combined to place the scene in the midst some crappy made-for-TV movie. Dona’s taste was...conceptual, to say the least. Rocket was unisex, which meant that there were both half-naked, quarter-naked, or even fully naked men and women crowding out the mid-sized club. Jigen hunched his back and attempted to get through without touching anyone. He could even taste the sweat. Eww.

Goemon followed him from the side, peering forward, behind, and above him. Catching a glimpse of one person, only to avert his eyes and catch a glimpse of another.  He seemed even more uncomfortable than him. Completely discombobulated. But he held his head in his hands and persevered.

 Goemon was a grown man, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt that he had to go through this mess with the rest of them. There was something unusually tense about him tonight, and it’d only get worse. Hopefully he’d have things to slice before it was all over. He wasn’t exactly a pure vestibule of virginity either, no matter what his code of honor dictated. But still, it was a lot to take in, especially if you were seeing it for the first time. Hopefully the actually habitable places would be tamer and quieter.

But he’d been apprehensive. Goemon would think that _this_ was what he’d been apprehensive about. He’d think that _this_ was him. That Hans was him.

No, he had common sense. He’d come to the logical conclusion. He’d been worried about Lupin but Jigen at least trusted him to do the same. And Fujiko? Fuck what she thought. They didn’t have that stark contrast of experience that he and Goemon had. He didn’t know what life was like inside the bubble. He probably didn’t know there _was_ a bubble.

He could explain it all to the other two without getting anything else out of it other than a shitty joke, but they’d understand.

 Goemon never would.

 He hated himself for caring so much.

 “HEY! OVER HERE!”

Lupin yelled out to them and waved his arms from the right hand corner of the room. The two of them elbowed their way to the others a fast as they could. Biba with her cat in her arms, Hans with a pink martini in his hand, Fujiko with her hands on her hips. After regrouping, Hans opened the door to the back room. They entered single-file into the retro-futuristic lounge. He slumped on the vinyl couch. The others sat down as well. Lupin unrolled the map on the matching minimalistic tabletop. It was too fucking bright and too fucking chrome and too. Fucking. Pink. His head was spinning. He could only register bits and pieces of the conversation.

“So you figured out zhat zhey all have to be in some sort of row?”

“Yeah, cause the tunnels...they’re like...all connected and stuff.”

“Yeah, it’d be hard to making something like that that goes through a building without the owners noticing.”

“Still, you know, there’s, like, thirty buildings. Is there any way to differentiate between them?”

“Maybe, like...a distraction…?”

“A distraction! Something to draw attention away from the rumors! Good thinking, Manko.”

“I, like...do my best.”

“I have to admit zhat I have never heard rumors about any secret passages. Zhough, if zhey are closely guarded, Mr. Zambaglione may opt for a distraction of some sort nonetheless.”

“So, you know if any of these places are flashier than others, man?”

“I thought maybe the Ajax could be-”

“Zhe Ajax? I doubt it. Hardly any room in zhere to store all zhe money Mister Roselini embezzled to begin vis. And don’t get me started on zhe quality of zheir collection…”

“Jigen.”

Goemon shook him lightly on the shoulder. He flinched and jumped up a little. After collecting himself, he leaned towards him.

“Do you really not know anything?”

“I told you guys, any information I have is outdated. The one place I thought would have it didn’t. Just go with Biba and Hans on this one.”

“They seem to know as much as we do.”

No shit. “It’s better than breaking into twenty-nine more basements.”

Wait.

Goemon sat himself up.

“Wouldn’t it be worth our time to only check the buildings on the end of each row? Miss Caprese did say that ‘once we found one, we found them all’.”

Everyone in the room stared at him in silence. Lupin briefly inspected the map and circled thirteen buildings.

“...so if the fortune shop turned up empty, then these are the only ones we have to check! Good thinking, Goemon!" 

He crossed his arms and beared a proud smile. “Hmm. That’s what you can be capable of if you don’t distract yourself with meaningless trifles.”

Biba giggled. Stranger curled up on her lap, purring contently. Jigen decided he’d let Goemon have that one, even if he’d possibly endangered their cover by mentioning Dona by name. With Hans, at least, they had nothing to worry about in that regard.

Biba, on the other hand... 

“Still, that leaves, like, thirteen buildings. And Manko was right - they probably put up some sort of distraction on the entrance. Somewhere you’d never suspect that something totally shady was going on.”

“I mean...it’s not, like, much. We could still, like...check ‘em out, right?”

“...Yeah, you have a point...”

“We should still weed out what we can, though. Got any ideas, Hans?”

Hans carefully inspected the map.

“...I can’t say I have any. Zhough I take back vhat I said about zhe Ajax.” He chuckled. “It is so hard to match names and faces at my age, you see…”

If anything, he was a good liar.

“How about you, Biba?”

She inspected the map herself. After a few seconds, she borrowed Lupin’s marker and circled a building in Greenwich Village.

“There’s definitely something shady going on here.”

“What is it?”

“It’s…” She looked down. “Well, you’ll see.”

 _For crying out loud…_ “Biba. If you wanna help, don’t keep any secrets from us.”

Lupin chortled. He could recognize that face under any sort of disguise he donned. It was his _‘that’s rich, coming from you’_ face. Whatever. He wasn’t possibly planning to murder them.

“I’m not. It’s just...you’ll see when you get there. Y’know?”

He leaned towards her. “You better not be shitting us-" 

“C’mon, Dick, my man! Trust her. She came with us this far, didn’t she?”

He sat back down. What the hell was he planning? He’d corner him as soon as they got out of there.

Lupin was the first to get up.

“We really appreciate the help, Mister Hans. We, like, wouldn’t have been able to do this without you. We gotta go now, though. The wind is callin’ our names...”

The others stood up and stretched from their seat. He was more than fucking ready to leave. He went as fast as he could.

“Vait a minute.”

He stopped frozen in his tracks. His pulse quickened.

“Vould you mind if I had a moment alone vis your friend?” He looked straight at him. “I believe ve know echazeur.”

Fuck.

Goemon and Lupin silently confirmed with him. He nodded.

They needed all the leads they could get.

Biba picked Stranger back up into her arms. “Thanks again, Hans.”

“Anysing for you, my dahling girl. And that sveet cat of yours!” He crooned at Stranger and tapped him on the nose. The cat seemed all but indifferent.

Lupin patted a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll wait for you outside, alright? They said their goodbyes and headed out the door.

Goemon was the last to leave. He gave him one more lingering, anxious look. Jigen nodded at him and mouthed “go”. He hesitated to close the door behind him.

Hans waited for him to sit back down before he began to speak. “It is good to see you again.” He smiled...sweetly? He was sure it was sweet to someone.  Everything is relative. “Jigen.”

He gave him the coldest glare he could muster. “Hans.”

“Maybe you should have put more effort into your disguise.” He chuckled. “You have not changed a bit since I had last seen you. But wasn’t expecting much.”

 _I wasn’t expecting much from you, either,_ he wanted to reply. Dirty old man. It would be in his best interest to make this reunion as short as possible.

“Did Dona tell you that I was coming?”

He crossed his legs as if he didn’t have a dick and balls. “Of course she did! Who do you sink I am?” He guffawed. “Didn’t sink I vould ever see you making zhe rounds again. Especially after vhat happened vith zhat Italian woman. Vhat vas her name?”

Jigen rested his head on his hand and rolled his eyes. “Oh, you’d _love_ to know, wouldn’t you.”

“Vell, I have to stay in business somehow.”

“You’d be better off staying in business throwing yourself off a goddamn bridge rather than selling information.”

He chuckled. 

“Oh, Jigen...you are so cute vhen you are angry, you know zhat? Like a little volf. So precious." 

He felt his free hand balling up into a fist.

 “Speaking of new developments...It was nice to finally make the acquaintance of your new company. Vhich one of zhem is zhe famous Lupin?”

“Blonde wig.”

“Ah, him! Chahming fellow. Zhough it is so hard to really tell srough zhat disguise.” He started to get up from his chair. “Vant somesing to drink? Ve have-”

“I don’t have time for this, Hans.” Jigen rested his arms on his knees. His foot tapped. “Who’s this Biba girl?” 

Hans hesitantly and slowly sat back down. “No need to rush, dahling! Especially vhen I have extended my gratitude to you. Kids zhese days, honestly, forgetting who raised zhem...”  He took a sip from his cup. “But, if you insist...Biba? Do you not already know?”

“How the hell would I?”

“...Ah. I see.” He nodded. “No reason you should. She’s a...local celebrity of sorts. I see her from time to time. Nice girl, really, once you get past...all zhat.”

His leg shook. His foot tapped faster.

“No way she comes here.”

“Of course not. She and zhat damned cat of hers choose to spend zheir time at only zhe most unruly of establishments.  I cannot even mention any names hier wisout vanting to vomit! To sink of all zhe diseases her feline companion may have caught..so sad, truly.” He laughed at his own backhanded observation and recrossed his legs.

“She alvays reminded me of you before you matured." 

Bastard. 

“How do you know her, then?”

“Calm down, Jigen! So unbecoming of you...Ve see eachazeur around from time to time. She frequents some of Donatella’s ozher establishments when she is so inclined.”

“Is she dangerous?”

“Vhat? Are you worried zhat she’ll jump on you and-”

“Answer me.” His hand rested near his Magnum.

Minutes passed. Hans was calm. Jigen knew he was no threat to him. He’d never injure any of Dona’s men without explicit permission whether he was working for her or not. But damn him if he didn’t try.

“Only if you provoke her.”

That was all he needed to know.

“Bye, Hans.”

He got up to leave. As he reached the door, Hans called out to him.

“Just one more sing before you leave.”

He looked him straight in the eye and smiled. Jigen forced himself to stare back despite wanting to shoot himself in the head.

  
“ _Sei kein Fremder_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am a busy person so the next update will probably take as long as this one did :) i appreciate people who stuck with me this far though. no more new characters i promise!  
> also i'm sorry to any germans who had to read this.

**Author's Note:**

> comments & criticism appreciated :)  
> 


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